[Coco] Just learning OS-9 - Questions

[Bill Pierce]

Mr Gault,
I disagree with the "Level 3". I have the Brother Jeremy "upgrade" disks and these are not them. Bro. Jeremy's disks were labeled as "upgrade" disks. They are full of notes and readmes plus the graphics for the intro screen and such. The other disks in the group were full of notes from the OS-9 upgrade team. They are in the maltedmedia archive and have very descriptive filenames as well as a note explaining where they come from. The ONLY "Level 3" version I've ever seen was the one developed by Alan Dekok. A couple of his sources are still in the repo with his notes on how to assemble it. He had a website for it but it's long gone. I ran this version at one time but ther were problems Alan hadn't worked out yet.

The filename of these disks in the Color Computer Archive SPECIFICALLY" state:

os9l2v030002cc_DS40_0.dsk
os9l2v030002cc_DS40_1.dsk
os9l2v030002cc_DS40_2.dsk
os9l2v030002cc_DS40_3.dsk
os9l2v030002cc_ss35_1.dsk
os9l2v030002cc_ss35_2.dsk

Which is identical to the naming convention of the Nitros9 distro disks. BUT.. They are not "NitrOS-9" disks as they are just "OS-9" disks with the patches & fixes from all the ones who were doing such things at the time. I think if you look closely enough within the nitros9 sourceforge files (old branches) you will find identical copies of these disks AND a copy of Bro Jeremy's "Upgrade Song". I was mistakening these for the Phoenix release but I think it was actually the release after Phoenix, hence the "Aries". If I'm not mistaken, 2.0 was labeled the "Phoenix" release as it was OS-9 rising up from the ashes (according to the messages and changelogs) :-)
Phoenix was the beginning point for the current NitrOS-9.. along with a mix of the commercial NitrOS-9 by GaleForce. I may be wrong, but I just recently went through every version of OS-9/NitrOS-9 I could find and read all the "changelogs" and readme files and this fits the scheme....

Bill P


Bill Pierce
My Music from the Tandy/Radio Shack Color Computer 2 & 3
https://sites.google.com/site/dabarnstudio/
Co-Webmaster of The TRS-80 Color Computer Archive
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-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Gault <robert.gault at att.net>
To: CoCoList for Color Computer Enthusiasts <coco at maltedmedia.com>
Sent: Sun, May 26, 2013 6:01 pm
Subject: Re: [Coco] Just learning OS-9 - Questions


Nick Marentes wrote:
>  > Not heard of that version. Maybe that's a reference to the equivalent of a
>  > Level3. There is a Level3 in the NitrOS-9 source code.
>
> OS-9 Level 2 v3.00:
>
> http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/coco/Disks/Operating%20Systems/OS-9/Level%202/

OK, there are several directories on that site where OS-9 Level-2 can be found. 
If you are working with
OS9 Level 2 (198x)(Tandy)(Disk 1 of 2)[26-3031].DSK
OS9 Level 2 (198x)(Tandy)(Disk 2 of 2)[26-3031].DSK
or
http://www.colorcomputerarchive.com/coco/Disks/Operating%20Systems/OS-9/Level%202/OS9_Level_2/
the Config command is on disk2 and/or the Boot-Config-Basic09 disk.

The Level2 V3 set on this site say
Aries Beta1 with release dates as recent as 08/22/02.

On the disks is the text file 'upgrade_song' written by Brother Jeremy, 1995. So 

this set is actually a "Level3" not L2V3 and has patches distributed by Brother 
Jeremy. It should also be what is included in the NitrOS-9 source files under 
Level3.
I'm not familiar with the changes that are included with Jeremy's disks.

>
> -----------------------------------
>
> Seems like building an OS-9 custom disk is one of the most confusing and
> frustrating things for a newbie trying to get into OS-9.
>
> Is there such thing as an OS-9 installer?

As such, no. The equivalent can be found on the NitrOS-9 distribution disks as a 

script. When the script is run, a "standard" OS-9 disk is created and stocked 
with a minimalist set of commands.
It is relatively easy to edit the script and the text file lists it uses to 
cause the script to create custom OS-9 bootable disks.

>
> I can see a huge benefit if there existed a disk that booted to a minimalist
> OS-9 and ran an OS-9 installer. This disk would contain all the known drivers,
> devices, commands and modules and the installer would ask you a few questions
> along the way and build a working and bootable OS-9 disk.
>
> Like installing Windows or Mac-OS. These OS's would be difficult to install if
> one had to crawl through each and every DLL file just to setup the OS.
>
> With a well designed and easy to understand installer, the process shift away
> from trying to get the OS to work so that people can use and create new
> applications to run from it.
>
> Nick
>

Well, OS-9 was never that easy a system to learn. You can try the Wiki at
http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/nitros9/index.php?title=Main_Page
or look at the documentation on sites like
ftp://www.rtsi.com/OS9/OS9_6X09/
or
ftp://maltedmedia.com/coco/

Of course questions can be posted here, but getting answers depends on the 
ability of the questioner to ask appropriate questions and responders to 
generate useful answers. The results can leave much to be desired. :)

Robert

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