I'm a complete novice when it comes to OpenSTEP and Apple-related OSs so please bear with me.
I'm using WIndows 7 Pro and VMWare Player.
I've managed to install the basic OpenSTEP 4.2 environment, but this has lead to a number of questions:
(i) I've tried to install the Developer environment. The various Developer applications appear to install but at the end of each installation I get a message along the lines of "Not all of the <app> installed because you have insufficient permissions" and there is no record of the developer applications having been installed. So: what permissions do I need and how do I change them on OS4.2?
(ii) At the moment I have the basic VGA display driver installed, a purely monochrome screen and an almost unusable mouse. I have found Bill Bereza's pre-compiled driver file (VMWareFB) at the atomicobjects website. Now I'm not sure how to install this driver. If I unarchive the .tar.gz file onto my Windows desktop I get a folder named 'VMWareFB.config' which contains a number of files. The question is: how do I get this into OS4.2 in VMWare and how do I 'execute the .config'? (I said I was an OS4.2 novice :D).
I'm assuming that when I have installed/executed this file I will have color and higher resolutions so the next question is ..
(iii) where do I get a mouse driver?
Sorry if these are basic questions. Thanks for any help.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"I'm a complete novice when it comes to OpenSTEP and Apple-related OSs so please bear with me.
I'm using WIndows 7 Pro and VMWare Player.
I've managed to install the basic OpenSTEP 4.2 environment, but this has lead to a number of questions:
(i) I've tried to install the Developer environment. The various Developer applications appear to install but at the end of each installation I get a message along the lines of "Not all of the <app> installed because you have insufficient permissions" and there is no record of the developer applications having been installed. So: what permissions do I need and how do I change them on OS4.2?
(ii) At the moment I have the basic VGA display driver installed, a purely monochrome screen and an almost unusable mouse. I have found Bill Bereza's pre-compiled driver file (VMWareFB) at the atomicobjects website. Now I'm not sure how to install this driver. If I unarchive the .tar.gz file onto my Windows desktop I get a folder named 'VMWareFB.config' which contains a number of files. The question is: how do I get this into OS4.2 in VMWare and how do I 'execute the .config'? (I said I was an OS4.2 novice :D).
I'm assuming that when I have installed/executed this file I will have color and higher resolutions so the next question is ..
(iii) where do I get a mouse driver?
Sorry if these are basic questions. Thanks for any help.
Hello Paul: Welcome to the forum , I think the developer install problem is related to first a successful User install which it sounds like you have. Then setting the password for the me account under User , to do this is easy just click the calender icon twice and it'll pop open a preferences window, click the padlock icon set the me account password then log out now you will have a login screen and login as root by typing root with no password . Then you 4.2 developer install should work install developer tools first then libraries then other packages .
We also now have a NeXT 68K emulator project on the forums under emulators which lets you run all versions of the OS .
Openstep 4.2 Y2k patches should also be installed and once they are it'll install a VESA 1.0 VBE driver , which allows you to add color !
Mouse driver not sure ... anyone?
Also I've put a lot of NeXT newby to guru online docs here on the forum archives,
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/ for everyone as well as here www.blackholeinc.com/docs
Best regards Rob Blessin
Rob: thanks for your help. I managed to log in as root and install the Developer applications but the mouse has just gone haywire - moving independently of my actions all over the screen. I just can't do anything with OS4.2 at the moment let alone install the patches :(
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Rob: thanks for your help. I managed to log in as root and install the Developer applications but the mouse has just gone haywire - moving independently of my actions all over the screen. I just can't do anything with OS4.2 at the moment let alone install the patches
I think this thread will help resolve the mouse problem , I know Brian Moore had a working solution not sure about latest version, he used ms dos for formatting and looks like special mouse and network driver!
:(
drivers
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Software/Virtualization/VMWare/ old thread
http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3138&highlight=vmwareBest regards Rob Blessin
Rob: the revised link mitglied.multimania.de doesn't work - connection timed out.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Rob: the revised link mitglied.multimania.de doesn't work - connection timed out.
Found them
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Software/Virtualization/VMWare/
Rob: that file has a load of C source code. I don't have an Objective-C compiler.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Rob: that file has a load of C source code. I don't have an Objective-C compiler.
I'm thinking that posting on the old VMware thread should help it may take a day or so , also this may be worth a try I googled config=Default NeXTStep , it finds this which describes how to boot to get to configure , you may have better luck with virtualbox , I have it and parallels working but on a Mac . I have not tried in Windows. Massive url for reboot help in detail after crash
https://books.google.com/books Sid=dCczblScSoYC&pg=PA359&lpg=PA359&dq=config%3DDefault+nextstep&source=bl&ots=onQzq38_YH&sig=rFejJ_irxRaYaXS3_qIjER1oTuU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAGoVChMI7_-Rz5-bxwIVVReSCh2aCgIM#v=onepage&q=config%3DDefault%20nextstep&f=false
Rob: funnily enough I've been trying to install in Virtual Box but the installation fails with a 'Panic: can't mount root' message.
It's a pity I can't just download a Windows VMWare virtual disk inage
:)
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Rob: that file has a load of C source code. I don't have an Objective-C compiler.
Thats still the right archive. You need the VMMouse.config, that's the driver itself. I haven't done this in years and I remember it being really painful with the mouse jumping everywhere but you select the mouse driver from the Configure.app and add it that way, editing the settings to match the screen resolution you're using. You'll also be wanting the VMXNet archive for networking and the SoundBlaster16PCI one for sound.
Noth: thanks. OK I've got a VMMouse.config (amongst a lot of other folders) on my Windows desktop. This VMMouse.config folder has a number of other files contained in it. As I asked in my original post how do I get the VMMouse.config folder into my VMWare OS4.2?
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Noth: thanks. OK I've got a VMMouse.config (amongst a lot of other folders) on my Windows desktop. This VMMouse.config folder has a number of other files contained in it. As I asked in my original post how do I get the VMMouse.config folder into my VMWare OS4.2?
My best guess would be to mount it as a floppy image extension may be fd or img floppy.fd or copy the file to the floppy image directory. To do this you may need to initialize the floppy image in openstep first I'm guessing for dos as windows should see dos image .
I don't know but for the heck of it I may try to install openstep 4.2 in emulation on the dark side aka windows lol give me few days . I may even try the Windows 10 thingy to see if it's possible just for grins. Remember we are dealing with a great os last official drivers were in 1997! We do the best we can ...
No luck with the mouse image. The truth is I just don't know enough about how OpenStep operates i.e basic file management etc, to be able to get the image into OS IN VMWare :(
Quote from: "Paul Richards"No luck with the mouse image. The truth is I just don't know enough about how OpenStep operates i.e basic file management etc, to be able to get the image into OS IN VMWare :(
The version 5.0.2 I have is now incompatible with MAC OSX Yosemite 10.10.4
I'll try and download version 7.1.2 and see if it requires a complete new purchase or upgrade.
Virtual box is free
https://www.virtualbox.org/found this:
http://www.cs.stir.ac.uk/~kjt/software/nextstep/openstep-win.htmlI now have it running under 7.1.2 as the version I had for 5.0.2 booted right
I would ditch it because you can only run in 2bit gray scale as after installing the common VBE 2.0 driver and typing in NeXT>"VBE Check"=Yes
it returns non supported video card, the PS2 mouse driver works.
up exploring how to mount floppy image ....
Quote from: "Paul Richards"No luck with the mouse image. The truth is I just don't know enough about how OpenStep operates i.e basic file management etc, to be able to get the image into OS IN VMWare :(
Hello Paul Richards: I spent a few hours here seeing if I would be able to install Openstep 4.2 under VMWare 7.1.2 free 30 day trial version as they broke my VMWare 5.0.2 install completely bastards LOL.
For my sanity I used MAC OSX Yosemite 10.10.1 as I didn't want to venture to a Windows 7 learning curve install into my busy Sunday equation.
SO I used the DOS formatting and key is to add a floppy drive under devices and as primary boot device. By the way they use an fdd extension for floppy images.
set Ram to 512Mb max NeXT recognizes :roll: a 4Gb drive and mounted the CD Image Openstep4.2 ISO
So it boots from the floppy Openstep4.2boot.fdd ,
then you change the floppy image to Openstep4.2drivers.fdd
then change floppy image to openstep4.2.betadrivers.fdd when it asks to add your hard drive and cdrom drive controller pick 8 for beta , choose the 4.01 dual channel eide driver for both. Proceed with install.
Unmount floppy after install says to and restart , I skipped installing all the packages to make it faster .... pick NeXT USA keyboard ,
double click calender icon and set password for me account , logout now you will have a login panel . Login as root with no password
reboot but change mounted cd image to Openstep4.2y2kpatch4.iso
all floppy images and y2k images are available for download on the archives of this site or at www.blackholeinc.com under new store !
install Openstep 4.2 Y2k patches and Openstep 4.2 Developer tools
Here it is running on youtube
https://youtu.be/Z7_z5v5ZYAM on my mac mini. I hope it in some way helps you.
Rob: thanks for all your help. As I've said earlier I have installed OpenSTEP 4.2 plus Developer applications successfully under VMWare Player v 7.1.2 on Windows 7.
It's the mouse that's the problem -- it goes haywire an is totall unusable. I have the VMMouse drivers downloaded. What I don't know is how to get the VMMouse drivers from Windows into OpenSTEP. I understand about using virtual floppies (I used them in the initial install).
The questions are:
(i) how do I create an image that can be imported into OpenSTEP?
(ii) how do I import it?
(iii) where should I put it in OpenSTEP?
(iv) when it's in the right place how do I install it?
As I've said before I'm a complete novice with regards to OpenSTEP. I am wanting to install it so that I can learn about a great operating system.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Rob: thanks for all your help. As I've said earlier I have installed OpenSTEP 4.2 plus Developer applications successfully under VMWare Player v 7.1.2 on Windows 7.
It's the mouse that's the problem -- it goes haywire an is totall unusable. I have the VMMouse drivers downloaded. What I don't know is how to get the VMMouse drivers from Windows into OpenSTEP. I understand about using virtual floppies (I used them in the initial install).
The questions are:
(i) how do I create an image that can be imported into OpenSTEP?
(ii) how do I import it?
(iii) where should I put it in OpenSTEP?
(iv) when it's in the right place how do I install it?
As I've said before I'm a complete novice with regards to OpenSTEP. I am wanting to install it so that I can learn about a great operating system.
This is from the MAC OSX side , Openstep will read DOS and MAC OS formatted disks. Does your Windows box have a floppy , if not you will need a USB floppy for VMWare to work as it looks like we can't do a virtual image to move a file into a floppy image ??? unless somebody out there knows?
So I'm thinking in Windows as long as you create a a dos formatted floppy image and drag and drop the VMwar mouse .tar.gz file into the floppy image then mount the floppy image make sure the extension is .fdd in VMWare, Openstep 4.2 should see it. Geeze to get the Video driver to work one would first have to install NeXTSTEP 3.3 User then developer run the compile then upgrade to Openstep 4.2 user .... Are you totally sold on VMware because virtual box for free can't possibly be this hard to do this or own free homebrew emulator previous is a lot easier for sure and we have instructions on the install, Does it have to be Openstep 4.2 as not many changes were made to the NeXT operating system side from NeXTSTEP to OpenSTEP , the changes were mainly to Openstep developer which seems to create problems with the emulators specifically drivers! If you have a PC from that era you can also install Openstep 4.2
At any rate here is the description for how to do a floppy in MAC OSX , I think you will find a similar description in the help files on VMWARE Windows for DOS . Also did you choose DOS for your virtual VMWare install as it works. **************************
To read data from a floppy disk to a virtual machine, you must create a disk image that the virtual machine can recognize.
Some operating systems require you to use floppy disks to install them. Because the Mac does not include a physical floppy drive, and because VMware Fusion supports floppy images only, you must use a USB floppy drive to create floppy images.
The Apple Disk Utility can create floppy disk images for this purpose.
Procedure
1
Attach a USB floppy drive to your Mac.
2
Start the Mac Disk Utility by going to Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility on your Mac.
3
Insert the floppy disk for which you need an image.
4
In the Disk Utility window, select the floppy disk and click New Image.
5
In the Image Format pop-up menu, select read/write.
6
In the Encryption pop-up menu, select None.
7
Save the floppy disk image to the chosen location.
8
In the Finder, right-click on the created floppy image and select Get Info.
9
In Name & Extension, change the file extension from .dmg to .flp and close the Get Info window.
Confirm the change when prompted.
10
(Optional) Repeat the process for each floppy disk to create.
What to do next
To attach the images to a virtual machine, see Connect and Set Up a Floppy Device.
Rob: thanks for the reply. First, I have tried Virtual Box but I got an 'Unable to mount root' message. I tried twice but still got the same message.
I'll try and translate your Mac method to Windows. I'll be away for a couple of days so I'll pick it up then.
Thanks again.
Rob: I've downloaded Previous 0.5 for Windows. Where can I find installation instructions for OpenSTEP 4.2?
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Rob: I've downloaded Previous 0.5 for Windows. Where can I find installation instructions for OpenSTEP 4.2?
turn-key ready image(s) ->
https://winworldpc.com/product/nextstep/4x
Rob: the only ones I can see for Previous are m68k architecture. Will they still run in Previous on Windows?
OK, it works fine + the mouse is usable as well :-). Pity I can't get colour though.
Thanks for your help Rob.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"OK, it works fine + the mouse is usable as well :-). Pity I can't get colour though.
Thanks for your help Rob.
Hello : if you choose a Turbo Color as your system it will be in color. Best regards Rob :wink:
Hello Paul,
I prepared a floppy image to be used with VMware (here, unzip before use) (
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2s4bf2l3jsne9oj/VMDrivers.img.zip?dl=0). Since OS will have installed a floppy driver by default this should work out of the box if you add a virtual floppy drive to your VM.
On the disk you will find my mouse driver VMMouse.config and the network driver VMXNet.config along with the archives they were built from. Once you attach the virtual floppy it should pop up as new window in the OS WorkspaceManager. Then you can simply double click the .config directories (not shown as directory in Workspace as the extension has a special meaning) and Configure.app should launch and install the drivers.
Remove the old PS/2 driver for the mouse and activate the VMMouse instead using "Add". If you are using a proper display driver (not simple VGA) the driver should detect the display resolution on its own. If this fails you will have to enter the value manually.
!!Don't forget to hit return in each field or the values would not make it to the configuration!!
The same goes for the network driver VMXNet. To get it working you need to remove the line 'ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000" ' from your vmx-file see this thread (
http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2285).
I haven't included the SoundBlasterPCI as that one is no longer working with newer versions (> 4.5) of VMWare.
Hope that helps you getting a running system.
Morgon
Quote from: "Morgon"Hello Paul,
I prepared a floppy image to be used with VMware (here, unzip before use) (https://www.dropbox.com/s/2s4bf2l3jsne9oj/VMDrivers.img.zip?dl=0). Since OS will have installed a floppy driver by default this should work out of the box if you add a virtual floppy drive to your VM.
On the disk you will find my mouse driver VMMouse.config and the network driver VMXNet.config along with the archives they were built from. Once you attach the virtual floppy it should pop up as new window in the OS WorkspaceManager. Then you can simply double click the .config directories (not shown as directory in Workspace as the extension has a special meaning) and Configure.app should launch and install the drivers.
Remove the old PS/2 driver for the mouse and activate the VMMouse instead using "Add". If you are using a proper display driver (not simple VGA) the driver should detect the display resolution on its own. If this fails you will have to enter the value manually.
!!Don't forgat to hit return in each field or the values would not make it to the configuration!!
The same goes for the network driver VMXNet. To get it working you need to remove the line 'ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000" ' from your vmx-file see this thread (http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2285).
I haven't included the SoundBlasterPCI as that one is no longer working with newer versions (> 4.5) of VMWare.
Hope that helps you getting a running system.
Morgon
Hello Morgan: Thank you , I just uploaded them here as well.
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Software/Virtualization/VMWare/Best Regards Rob
Morgon: many thanks. That seems to have done the trick.
How did you create the VMDrivers.img file? I tried to have a look at in WInImage but it could not read it. I would like to install VMWareFB drivers to get Super VGA and colour installed. How would I go about creating a similar *.img file?
If it would help, I created a CD ISO of the 4 drivers (Sound Blaster, VMXNet, VMMouse, VMwareFB). I could upload it.
I seem to remember that things are really quite difficult until you get the mouse driver installed. After that, things get much easier.
eagle: that would be great. I have installed the VMMouse and VMXNet drivers. The mouse is working superbly (:-))
I would like now to install VMwareFB which I believe will give me much higher resolutions and, I think, colour. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Many thanks
morgon: I don't have a line 'ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000" ' in my .vmx file.
I have to hit Ctl-C when OpenSTEP is booting to get to the GUI.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Morgon: many thanks. That seems to have done the trick.
How did you create the VMDrivers.img file? I tried to have a look at in WInImage but it could not read it. I would like to install VMWareFB drivers to get Super VGA and colour installed. How would I go about creating a similar *.img file?
Well I sort of cheated :D. I have OS running inside VMware for quite some years, so I just created an empty disk image with VMware and attached the disk to the VM. Then I could format it and put the files onto it from inside OpenStep. That way I got a OS formatted floppy image containing the drivers which is better than a DOS one as the file names are not mangled.
Since I'm not using VMWareFB but my own display driver I don't have that one around and don't know which version is the best to use. As a fall back you can still activate the VESA driver and use that one once you have installed the OpenStep User patch. I used that one for quite a while myself until I wrote my own driver, as VMWareFB had some nasty flaws for me.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"morgon: I don't have a line 'ethernet0.virtualDev = "e1000" ' in my .vmx file.
I have to hit Ctl-C when OpenSTEP is booting to get to the GUI.
The line in the vmx file is not mandatory but if it's there my driver won't work as it is for an older version of the virtual ethernet device.
You have to hit Ctrl-C as your system currently is not configured as standalone machine. Therefore it tries to find a configuration server. To get rid of that you need to edit "/etc/hostconfig". It should look something like following after that:
#
# /etc/hostconfig
#
# This file sets up shell variables used by the various rc scripts to
# configure the host. Edit this file instead of rc.boot.
#
# Warning: This is sourced by /bin/sh. Make sure there are no spaces
# on either side of the "=".
#
# There are some special keywords used by rc.boot and the programs it
# calls:
#
# -AUTOMATIC- Configure automatically
# -YES- Turn a feature on
# -NO- Leave a feature off or do not configure
#
HOSTNAME=-AUTOMATIC-
INETADDR=192.168.100.2
ROUTER=-ROUTED-
IPNETMASK=255.255.255.0
IPBROADCAST=192.168.100.255
NETMASTER=-YES-
YPDOMAIN=-NO-
TIME=-AUTOMATIC-
Replace the IP-Adresses with the proper ones for your machine. Once you have network running you can even assign a machine name in this file but this needs some changes in the Netinfo database as well. This might be good to leave for later until you got used to the system in general.
morgon:
QuoteAs a fall back you can still activate the VESA driver and use that one once you have installed the OpenStep User patch.
As far as patches are concerned I haven't installed any yet, just the basic User and Developer functions. Where do I get the User patch? And also I've seen references to a Year 2K patch - where do I get that also?
Any chance you can let me have your own display driver as an .img file like before :) ?
QuoteYou have to hit Ctrl-C as your system currently is not configured as standalone machine.
OK, I'll have to have a think about this one. I don't want to mess up any vital start up scripts.
QuoteReplace the IP-Adresses with the proper ones for your machine.
Is this the IP address of my Windows host machine?
Thanks for your help.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"morgon:
QuoteAs a fall back you can still activate the VESA driver and use that one once you have installed the OpenStep User patch.
As far as patches are concerned I haven't installed any yet, just the basic User and Developer functions. Where do I get the User patch? And also I've seen references to a Year 2K patch - where do I get that also?
You can find the patches here:
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Software/OPENSTEP/Patches/. The easiest way to get them into OpenStep is either to get network running and get them via NFS or FTP or to make an ISO-image and attach that to the VM so OS can see it.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"
Any chance you can let me have your own display driver as an .img file like before :) ?
With the display driver it's a bit different than with my other drivers. For one it's quite big in size (and doesn't fit on a floppy) and for the other it's not as easy to use. Although it's quite stable by now on my systems it sometimes happenes to crash them, especially after changes in the VMs. Real bad thing about this is that it gets loaded during boot and therefore crashes the system pretty early, leading to the need of some command line tweaking of the system during the boot process :(
Beside those practical difficulties I would need to release it with source code as it is based on XFree86. That is one thing I am bit reluctant to do because the code is a big mess in several parts due to necessary workarounds to get the XFree86 code working in OS kernel level at all.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"QuoteYou have to hit Ctrl-C as your system currently is not configured as standalone machine.
OK, I'll have to have a think about this one. I don't want to mess up any vital start up scripts.
QuoteReplace the IP-Adresses with the proper ones for your machine.
Is this the IP address of my Windows host machine?
Thanks for your help.
No, not of your host machine. It needs to be an address from the network assigned to your VM. You also need to set the address of your gateway in the "ROUTER" line. When using a bridged network this is the address of your real router, for NAT and private network this will be the IP of the virtual VM gateway at address .1 of the chosen network.
This additional effort is necessary as OS doesn't understand DHCP without additional software, but I never tried that.
morgon: this is all getting too hard :(
I changed from the VGA driver to the Super VGA driver and when I rebooted I got a blank black screen.
So I'm going to have to reinstall OpenSTEP from scratch. But I wonder if it's worth it. A monochrome VGA screen (a small VMWare window on my laptop) is not really feasible and I don't have the correct tools (presumably Mac tools) to create the drivers I need (e.g. the VMWareFB to create colour and higher resolution) in the required format (not DOSWindows.)
I just d/loaded the OSMachUserPatch4 file and WinZip cannot unzip it correctly so I can't make an .iso file (NFS or FTP isn't even a starter for me.)
So I think that's it for me and OpenSTEP. It's a pity because I was really looking forward to using a ground-breaking operating system with that undefinable Steve Jobs touch.
Thanks to everyone in this forum for the help and assistance I've received.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"morgon: this is all getting too hard :(
I changed from the VGA driver to the Super VGA driver and when I rebooted I got a blank black screen.
So I'm going to have to reinstall OpenSTEP from scratch. But I wonder if it's worth it. A monochrome VGA screen (a small VMWare window on my laptop) is not really feasible and I don't have the correct tools (presumably Mac tools) to create the drivers I need (e.g. the VMWareFB to create colour and higher resolution) in the required format (not DOSWindows.)
I just d/loaded the OSMachUserPatch4 file and WinZip cannot unzip it correctly so I can't make an .iso file (NFS or FTP isn't even a starter for me.)
So I think that's it for me and OpenSTEP. It's a pity because I was really looking forward to using a ground-breaking operating system with that undefinable Steve Jobs touch.
Thanks to everyone in this forum for the help and assistance I've received.
Hello : I did upload the drivers for VMWare here
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Software/Virtualization/VMWare/ holy moly this is like a whole new evolution of NeXTSTEP/ Openstep that has taken on a life of its own in Emulation or Virtualization. Every new encarnation of the Emulators seems to cause problems for the formerly stable installs . Previous has my vote here because it is targeted for use with NeXTSTEP and Openstep emulating the original hardware so it makes the most sense.
Sorry for not monitoring this thread... Rob & all, the best way to get drivers and any files into NeXTSTEP or OPENSTEP in VMWare (until you have networking working) is to prep an ISO image, every time. Just mount it, copy the files over as root, and get everything installed. Can be prep'd in any current OS, and instructions are all over the web.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"morgon: this is all getting too hard :(
I changed from the VGA driver to the Super VGA driver and when I rebooted I got a blank black screen.
So I'm going to have to reinstall OpenSTEP from scratch. But I wonder if it's worth it. A monochrome VGA screen (a small VMWare window on my laptop) is not really feasible and I don't have the correct tools (presumably Mac tools) to create the drivers I need (e.g. the VMWareFB to create colour and higher resolution) in the required format (not DOSWindows.)
I just d/loaded the OSMachUserPatch4 file and WinZip cannot unzip it correctly so I can't make an .iso file (NFS or FTP isn't even a starter for me.)
So I think that's it for me and OpenSTEP. It's a pity because I was really looking forward to using a ground-breaking operating system with that undefinable Steve Jobs touch.
Thanks to everyone in this forum for the help and assistance I've received.
Don't give up yet. There is no need to reinstall the whole system. You can prevent the loading of the problematic SVGA driver during boot. I will try to write some instructions how to do that coming weekend.
Regarding the patch there is no need to extract the tar file under Windows, you can just put the whole file into an ISO image to be used with the virtual CD drive and extract it inside OS as written in the OS42PatchRelaseNotes.pdf (
http://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Software/OPENSTEP/Patches/OS42Patch4ReleaseNotes.pdf) for the patches.
Morgon
Morgon: I relented and reinstalled :) Back on the default VGA driver at the moment.
Just to be certain: do I need just the User Patch 4 or do I need any other patches? Looking at the Release Notes it seems I don't need any of the earlier patches. I have OS42UserPatcth4.tar
Also I have the VMWareFB.config.tar.gz on my desktop. Does this need to be unzipped?
When I unzipped this before I ended up with a folder VWareFB inside which was a VMWareFB.config inside which was another file VMWareFB.config which had things in it like another folder called English.proj and files like Default.table. Display.modes etc.
I am not sure which of this hierarchy (VMWareFB -> VMWareFB.config -> VMWareFB.config -> English.lproj ...) needs to be applied in an ISO.
Thanks.
OK, some progress. I made an ISO image of OS42UserPatch4.tar and mounted it in my virtual CD drive.
OS42 recognised the CD and File Viewer displayed 'os42ma~0.tar'. I double-clicked on this file and the Archive Inspector popped up saying 'This selection was archived using the UNIX tar command. Archived files must be unarchived before use.' However the 'Unarchive' button was greyed out (as was also the 'Revert' button.)
Progress of a sort :)
Quote from: "Paul Richards"OK, some progress. I made an ISO image of OS42UserPatch4.tar and mounted it in my virtual CD drive.
OS42 recognised the CD and File Viewer displayed 'os42ma~0.tar'. I double-clicked on this file and the Archive Inspector popped up saying 'This selection was archived using the UNIX tar command. Archived files must be unarchived before use.' However the 'Unarchive' button was greyed out (as was also the 'Revert' button.)
Progress of a sort :)
the reason it is greyed out is Openstep thinks it is a physical tar file on CD image because it is mounted as a disk so to unarchive it you need to drag the tar image to a new folder it should copy it in Openstep under root . then click the Openstep.tar image then it should untar to what I'm not sure as whatever you copied in . Patch 4 is all you need. Initially however , You should be able to save the Openstep 4.2 image as an ISO you downloaded as an iso file which would then appear Instead of compressed or .tar as .iso , if you see Openstep 4.2 user patch 4 . Pkg after untaring in the new folder while logged in as root click to install . Best regards Rob
Rob: thanks for that. I installed the UserPatch4 and have chosen the VESA VBE driver.
I assume I need to select a Display Mode in the Configure.app but when I choose 'Select' there are no entries in the 'Select Display Mode' dialog, that is nothing for Height, Width, Refresh or Color Space.
Have I missed something?
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Rob: thanks for that. I installed the UserPatch4 and have chosen the VESA VBE driver.
I assume I need to select a Display Mode in the Configure.app but when I choose 'Select' there are no entries in the 'Select Display Mode' dialog, that is nothing for Height, Width, Refresh or Color Space.
Have I missed something?
If we are talking VMWare , it is not compatible with the VESA driver . The way to check VESA compatability is at the NeXT> type in VBE Check=Yes and it returned not compatible with the video driver they are using unfortunately they broke something in the latest release. Still give it a try because may be it will work under Windows on a PC.... if it says it is compatible boot through to login and install the VBE driver then it should give you choices for various resolutions and refresh rates in configure.app . The cool thing is we have lots of talented developers joining the forum and some of them have driver writing experience. Under NeXTSTEP 3.3 there is actually a driver writing kit so the only thing holding back the operating system from being updated to run on 2gb partitions natively on modern hardware are drivers or in emulation are the drivers . Now if only we had the source code we would be able to update a lot of things like large hard drive support a USB driver would also be helpful. We will see .... glad to see your still trying I've spent 20 years working my way around these problems so I try and help as best I can after all this is Steve Jobs and company legacy software. It helped save Apple and elements of it are still used in IOS and IWatch development today literally 20 years ahead of its time in some respects. Best regards Rob Blessin
Well that's disappointing re VMWare. However I have also installed OpenSTEP in Virtual Box.
I now have a colour screen and a selection of Display Modes to choose from. Unfortunately choosing, say, 1024 x 768 has absolutely no effect - I'm still in the VGA resolution.
I rebooted after choosing a higher resolution but this had no effect.
Quote from: "Paul Richards"Well that's disappointing re VMWare. However I have also installed OpenSTEP in Virtual Box.
I now have a colour screen and a selection of Display Modes to choose from. Unfortunately choosing, say, 1024 x 768 has absolutely no effect - I'm still in the VGA resolution.
I rebooted after choosing a higher resolution but this had no effect.
Hello Paul: so is it stuck at 640 by 480 in Color , I just started up my Virtual Box install of Openstep 4.2 with VBE driver version 4.13 it freezes at the network driver looks like it was trying to do something with the bridged adaptor so I'm assuming I have to do a fresh install to comply with the latest version lol not tonight.
Another pointer if you login as root go to calender where you set the root password in preferences scroll all the way right click unix expert and large file support . You should see usr/adm/messages now appear check the file boot script it should show available VBE display modes . Be sure to pick the mode click apply then save and reboot in configure.app
I'm going to try Sleeping tonight lol you have no idea that hardware battles I'm fighting right now with the old NeXT boxes, to bad your not here in Fort Collins Colorado I would have you help me with installs on the NeXT box orders . NeXTSTEP had a network install feature and for fun I set up 10 boxes to install at once over the network , it was kind of fun because in the code it says excuse me while I kiss the sky then bam starts the install flying on all 10...
I'm having fun with it all. Best regards Rob Blessin
Rob: scrolling through the script there is reference to the VESA VBE initialization plus a list of display modes i.e. width, height, bpp
I'm not sure what you mean by 'Be sure to pick the mode click apply then save and reboot in configure.app'. I can't pick anything off a script :)
Rob: I've just rebooted OS42 in Virtual Box and I've now got a resolution of 1024 x 768. IN VB Fullscreen it looks great.
Now to find out how to install the VMWareFB display driver in VMWare :D
Well I've installed VMWareFB in VMWare and, surprise, surprise I get colour and higher resolution. :)
The downside is that the mouse is no longer controllable. When the mouse cursor is more or less in the centre of the OS Workspace it's OK but when I move it towards the sides of the screen e.g. to click on an icon or make a choice from the Workspace menu, the cursor - or rather an additional cursor - appears outside of the VMWare screen. The result is that I can't use the menus or icons.
I went into Preferences and on the Mouse changed the Desktop Layout to h=768 and w=1024. This made no difference (even with Override Detected Size checked). When I went back into Preferences for the mouse the width was shown as 640 although height was still 768. When setting h=768 and w=1024 I had pressed Done and then Save in the Preferences dialog.
I'm hoping there is a straightforward solution to this issue since I'm almost there with OS4.2 :-)
If I remember correctly, you have to confirm the input values in the Mouse driver input fields with enter. Else they might get lost when leaving the dialog.
andreas: thank you, that solved the problem.
I finally got OpenSTEP 4.2 working in VMWare including User and Development patches + VMMouse and VMWareFB.
I'd like to express my thanks to all those forum members who provided assistance to me during this rather steep learning curve. As part of my total immersion in all things NeXT-Jobs I'm even reading a biography of Steve Jobs :D
I even felt confident enough to install OS4.2 in Virtual Box as well.
Thanks again.