release blockers

[Petr Stehlík]

Hi all ARAnyM users,

I've had a few spare hours yesterday so I thought I'd release a new
version of ARAnyM - more like a snapshot of current git so we'd have
something to compare previous releases with and to report bugs against
:)

Unfortunately I've faced several issues so annoying that I couldn't go
ahead with the release.

For start I have uninstalled SDL1.2 and went for sdl12-compat. That way
I could configure with --disable-sdl2 yet it's built with SDL2 in the
end. We need to move to SDL2 somehow (to iron out related bugs because
modern distros don't contain SDL1.2 anymore) and this is kind of a
minimal effort.
https://github.com/libsdl-org/sdl12-compat

I have immediately encountered the "mouse is stuck in an invisible
rectangle" known issue, debugged it slightly and documented here:
https://github.com/aranym/aranym/issues/103#issuecomment-1871880952

There's no fix for that yet. Perhaps calling SDL_WarpMouse whenever GEM
screen resolution changes would help, but it's tricky to detect that
moment (though I feel like I worked on just that many years ago).


Then I tried running ARAnyM in full screen with very bad results -
issues included:
- invisible GEM mouse pointer
- not moving GEM mouse pointer (unless clicked - try it)
- not working the "Full screen" button in SETUP menu

There's also an issue with the SETUP GUI flickering (like if the Atari
running in background was overwriting the SETUP GUI many times per
second). I haven't seen it yesterday but Ctirad reported it long time
ago.

I believe that a new release should at least work decently (i.e. with
mouse pointer visible and reacting to user) both in a window and in
fullscreen.

There were also some minor issues that users setting up ARAnyM from
scratch might encounter (e.g. if there is no OS the "reboot" is
unavailable but it remains unavailable even after the OS path was
specified in the SETUP).

Also it would be better if the Caps Lock key was handled better so that
whenever I press Caps Lock inside ARAnyM it does not apply in the host
OS.

Anyway, if you can think of other (not only SDL2 related) annoying
issues that you feel are release blockers please let me know.

I haven't even created GitHub issues for things mentioned above yet.
I'd prefer quick fixes instead. If you have time and motivation please
look into that, thanks.

On a more positive note: together with Ctirad we've worked on a new
AFROS for a bit yesterday. I have an idea of a AFROS on Raspberry Pi
since I bought Raspberry Pi 400 and I believe it would make a very nice
Atari Falcon+ easy-to-carry replacement - we'd just need a simple way
to bootstrap it for new users straight up to nice multitasking GEM with
working internet browsing etc:

https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-400-unit/

Thanks and Happy New Year!

Petr

[Miro Kropáček]

On Fri, 29 Dec 2023 at 11:13, Petr Stehlík <pste...@sophics.cz> wrote:

I have an idea of a AFROS on Raspberry Pi

Just to avoid double work, there's already something like that: https://sites.google.com/site/beebox68k/news/2022-10-30-beepi-2-1?authuser=0 

--

http://mikro.atari.org

[Petr Stehlík]

On Pá, 2023-12-29 at 11:17 +0100, Miro Kropáček wrote:
> > I have an idea of a AFROS on Raspberry Pi
> >
>
> Just to avoid double work, there's already something like
> that: https://sites.google.com/site/beebox68k/news/2022-10-30-beepi-2
> -1?authuser=0 

Are you sure it includes up-to-date ARAnyM with all possible NatFeats
configured to work out-of-the-box? Networking and host FS access to
mounted media are a must.

Petr

[Petr Stehlík]

Hm, I've read a bit about it. Seems like networking is there but using
static IP addresses. That's a no go. We need DHCP setup.

I'll give it a proper try and will report back eventually.

Petr

[Paul Wratt]

> For start I have uninstalled SDL1.2 and went for sdl12-compat. That way
> I could configure with --disable-sdl2 yet it's built with SDL2 in the
> end.

DONT use sdl12-compat, you already have SDL2, its an SDL2 to SDL API
layer, you only use it to upgrade a SDL 1.2 app to SDL2 library
WITHOUT changing the SDL 1.2 code

Someone else already released an updated AFROS ZIP archive a couple of
years ago, its AFROS only - if you can get ARAnyM running on RPI then
Phillipe can release a new set of BeePi / BeeUSB etc

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[Francois LE COAT]

Hi,

Petr Stehlík writes:
> I've had a few spare hours yesterday so I thought I'd release a new
> version of ARAnyM - more like a snapshot of current git so we'd have
> something to compare previous releases with and to report bugs against
> :)

That's good news for the period ! Personally I will need binaries for
Windows and macOS, because it is not easy to install like with GNU/Linux
So it is required in the package of the miniPack that I maintain. For
macOS I wonder which version will be released because Philipp Donzé
develop his proper version, in a different ARAnyM's branch. But it's
a long time that no release was done, so it is really good to hear =)

Best regards,

--
François LE COAT
Author of Eureka 2.12 (2D Graph Describer, 3D Modeller)
https://eureka.atari.org/

[Mark Duckworth]

On 12/29/23 5:13 AM, Petr Stehlík wrote:
> Hi all ARAnyM users,
>
> I've had a few spare hours yesterday so I thought I'd release a new
> version of ARAnyM - more like a snapshot of current git so we'd have
> something to compare previous releases with and to report bugs against
> :)
>

I'm glad to hear this. I've had numerous issues with latest builds of
Aranym on later machines. Somehow the older builds seem to work better.
On my one machine networking stops working. I can't for the life of
me figure out how it could be Aranym's fault and it may not be but it
happens.

I found I had some mouse issues related to the natfeat fvdi driver. I
forget what I did to resolve that, I think upgrade the fvdi version or
turn on or off acceleration.

I still have mouse issues where i need to click in the window, hit f12,
click in the window again, and then usually that is enough to get a cursor.

I will also have the situation where the mouse will ungrab for seemingly
no reason. It also seems like the mouse cursor is very likely to
disappear for no reason in Aranym.

I also have no cursor in full screen at all.

It'd be so lovely if all this stuff worked like a virtualbox or vmware
virtual machine.

I've actually been reading over Aranym source code to try to understand
some of the issues.

I would also like to see a 2x pixel mode. I have a laptop with a
"retina" style screen and aranym is impossibly small to use.

Thanks,
Mark

[philippe.noble]

I am glad that there is a new interest for the RPi platform. I agree with you Petr, the Pi400 is indeed the best platform for Aranym in term of price / power / nice form factor. 

For now, BeePi uses an outdated version of Aranym (1.02) as most recents versions doesn't work correctly. (see my previous posts and bug reports on GitHub ).

Networking, hostfs access to internal and removable media, sound, printing ... are available and used in BeePi.

I have not been able to use host exec Natfeat in Beepi, as it was integrated in versions posterior to the last one compatible with RPi. But, I have successfully used it on Beekey and been able to transparently interact with the host system, like setting up WIFI or starting Hatari in parallel from Aranym and switching back and forth between the two emulators ...

Obviously there are a lot of differences with AFROS, one being that BeePi uses HDD images to boot, that it comes with non freeware pre-installed softwares, that Hatari is also installed and started from Aranym for a compatibility with games, demos and old apps .Have a look at it. 

 I have started to work on BeePi 3, with the following changes :

- Update host os to bookworm. Will it work with RPI5 ?

- Rewriting of the scripts to start and control BeePi

- Create a building script for easier future maintenance.

- EasyAraMint now boots in a normal way from the auto folder thanks to Miro work. It no longer have to use tricks to start NVDI with FVDI.

- As a result, with the same HDD image and Xboot, you can now work in single tos, Mint, EasyMint, with Videl Inside or FVDI, even Magic can be installed ... like on a real Atari hardware.

- Atari side software updates and rewriting of several utilities.

- and may be if the stars are aligned update Aranym ;-)

As Miro suggested we could put our efforts in common. I am totally opened to share and improve.

Philippe

[Jo Even Skarstein]

On Fri, 2023-12-29 at 11:26 +0100, Petr Stehlík wrote:
>

> Hm, I've read a bit about it. Seems like networking is there but
> using
> static IP addresses. That's a no go. We need DHCP setup.

Hi Petr!

Feel free to grab the network config app and -setup from VanillaMiNT :)
This supports both a static setup and DHCP.

Jo Even

[Petr Stehlík]

Hi Philippe,

I have tried BeePi for a few minutes and have been very impressed by
it. I personally would like to improve the network setup (change to
bridging and use proper DNS resolver IP address suggested by DHCP),
update software (we need an up-to-date Netsurf with HTTPS working) and
then it would be totally great setup for real daily use.

Petr

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[Petr Stehlík]

On Pá, 2023-12-29 at 15:36 +0100, Jo Even Skarstein wrote:
> Feel free to grab the network config app and -setup from VanillaMiNT

took me quite a while to find it - googling for vanillamint finds all
sorts of stuff rather unrelated to Atari :-)

https://atari.joska.no/VanillaMiNT/

> This supports both a static setup and DHCP.

Sounds good, will give it a try, though on ARAnyM you need to set up
the networking properly on the host side first.

Petr

[Thorsten Otto]

On Freitag, 29. Dezember 2023 11:26:09 CET Petr Stehlík wrote:

> Seems like networking is there but using

> static IP addresses. That's a no go. We need DHCP setup.

Maybe also looking at what JeanMars has done with his docker image may help:

https://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=43194

[Thorsten Otto]

On Freitag, 29. Dezember 2023 12:05:08 CET Paul Wratt wrote:

> DONT use sdl12-compat

I would like to do that, but on newer distros you don't have the choice anymore. There isn't a package for the "real" SDL 1.2.15 anymore.