AXPbox version 1.0.0 released! (Open source Alpha emulator)

[Remy]

The first official release of AXPbox, the open source Alpha emulator forked
from es40, automatically compiled via Github Actions for a variety of
different platforms and incorporating a few fixes and improvements. Most fixes
are related to the build system, there are a few stability improvements and
some code is modernized.

Here is the full release announcement: https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/releases/tag/v1.0.0 and here are some screenshots: https://raymii.org/s/blog/AXPBox-version-1.0.0-released.html#toc_4

I've pasted the markdown version of the changelog below for your reference.

This release runs HP OpenVMS 8.3, VSI OpenVMS 8.4 and VSI OpenVMS 8.42L1,
NetBSD 8.2 and NetBSD 6.1.2 without major issues. See
[here](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/wiki/Guest-support) for more
information and other operating systems.

Installation instructions and more guides can be found on [the wiki](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/wiki)

#### Contributers


Contributers include, in random order:

* [@lenticularis39](https://github.com/lenticularis39) - Tomáš Glozar
* [@stottsc](https://github.com/stottsc)
* [@veprbl](https://github.com/veprbl) - Dmitry Kalinkin
* [@dmzettl](https://github.com/dmzettl) - Dietmar M. Zettl
* [@mvorl](https://github.com/mvorl) - Martin Vorlander
* [@promovicz](https://github.com/promovicz)
* [@fsword7](https://github.com/fsword7) - Timothy Stark
* [@RaymiiOrg](https://github.com/RaymiiOrg) - Remy van Elst

(Names taken from github profiles)

Binaries are provided for:

* OS X (x86) 10.15
* Windows
* Linux on ARM (armv7)
* Linux on x86

#### Changelog

Changelog as to the latest `es40` release from which AXPbox forked:

* Automated builds via Github Actions for all above platforms including cross-compiling to linux-arm ([#59](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/59), [#51](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/51), [#26](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/26), [#15](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/15))
* MAC OS X M1 (ARM) build fixes for Catalina & Big Sur ([#58](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/58))
* Improved network stability, DEC21143 partial frame fix ([#60](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/60)), DEC21143: set pcap to non-blocking mode ([3029ce4](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/3029ce4fefdddb35f2cb8f5f8ae01d5760e29b7f))
* Various formatting and sign-ness patches from Promovicz's fork ([#56](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/56))
* Smart pointers and C++ threads instead of POCO threads (C++ 11 `make_unique` as well) ([4540e18](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/4540e1843dcd8fa1a5ee9c3dadacbde571993b42), [a2c4890](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/a2c4890e77aad4d7ad74a79156d3d45e9bfb7fae), [#35](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/35)
* Check for writable disk files ([#30](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/30))
* Some compiler warnings ([#27](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/27))
* Version information in the command line output: [#20](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/20)
* Fix segfault on non-existing disk image: [#19](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/pull/19)
* OpenVMS Memory Test in SRM can be skipped: [0fca5b2](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/0fca5b26d5f0543ee600c492df2f85b8ef26840f), [837750f](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/837750f2cb43a9cd32365b428a3dc470c45d0e86)
* Improve TOY clock: [c1db0aa](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/c1db0aa4a5838042b9429dc06fcd8c19e3cb77aa)
* Fix for [#18](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/issues/18) Bringing up graphical window with SDL crashes when interactive debugger happens: [9ef3473](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/9ef3473f3a617c6c1736da6fcd96cf32394b1a0f)
* Patches from [@mvorl](https://github.com/mvorl) and [@veprbl](https://github.com/veprbl) es40 forks, e.g. for the MC146818, allows NetBSD to boot: [a13670d](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/a13670df20ebdb71f8df9a4ecc9ce8e351c8f9f5), [05e782e](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/05e782e993e21b48b5f9c855beb645114c92ac58)
* Workaround for [#5](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/issues/5), typing on serial is slow ([c215fcd](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/c215fcde2a7704e0f7f4e5dbe9b210dce24933ef))
* AliM1543C ide: Fix semaphore overload bug ([d8e35ee](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/d8e35eef8f274b123838f444b4e9705be069cb16))
* Fix double free of SCSI bus ([cb92951](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/cb929514bcb19c019a56a349bc6c31b500eb82a3))

#### What doesn't work (also see issues)

- Some guest operating systems (see Guest support)
- ARC
- VGA in OpenVMS
- SDL keyboard (partly works, but easily breaks)
- Multiple CPU system emulation
- Running on big endian platforms
- Some SCSI and IDE commands
- Networking for a longer time (breaks after a couple minutes)
- Copying large files between IDE CD-ROM to IDE hard drive (this usually doesn't affect OpenVMS installation)

The linux ARM build is compiled statically, without networking, graphics or
SDL support due to cross-compilation. It is recommended to compile it yourself
on your own ARM hardware.

[Downloads are on github](https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/releases/tag/v1.0.0)

[MG]

On 23-Jan-2021 21:23, Remy wrote:
> The linux ARM build is compiled statically, without networking, graphics or
> SDL support due to cross-compilation. It is recommended to compile it yourself
> on your own ARM hardware.

Same for the Windows version, I guess, because I received a warning when
I tried the graphics mode (both with "sdl" and "win32" settings), due to
an apparent lack of built-in support with the provided binary.

- MG

[Tom Wade]

On 2021-01-23 20:23, Remy wrote:
> The first official release of AXPbox, the open source Alpha emulator forked
> from es40, automatically compiled via Github Actions for a variety of
> different platforms and incorporating a few fixes and improvements. Most fixes
> are related to the build system, there are a few stability improvements and
> some code is modernized.
>
> Here is the full release announcement: https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/releases/tag/v1.0.0

I notice the following in the announcement page:

> What doesn't work (also see issues)

>...

> Networking for a longer time (breaks after a couple minutes)

Unless I am misunderstanding what is being said here, would this not
greatly reduce its usefulness ?


Tom Wade

tom dot wade at tomwade dot eu

[Craig A. Berry]

It might've been fixed:

<https://github.com/lenticularis39/axpbox/commit/8c37c5dbfe59f41787c1b6101b44dc4dad6c19db>

though I don't know if that's the same networking problem. It is open
source, so interested folks can fix problems they encounter.