Acorn A3020 notes

Resources

Commands https://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documentation/show/*Commands
How to format a CFDisk or IDE Flash module: https://stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?p=67104#p67104
OS Support disks: https://www.arcarc.nl/archive/ROMS/OS/OS%20Support%20Discs/RISC%20OS%203.10/

Reset CMOS

You need to hold the delete key down before switching on, and keep it held down from when you switch on until the first text appears on the display.

Initial setup after dead CMOS

Boot into OS3.1, press F12 to enter command line and type:

configure boot
configure idediscs 1
configure filesystem adfs
configure drive 4

Turn off the computer, wait 5 seconds, turn it on. HD should show up.

Booting from ROM again, after HD install

If for whatever reason you need to boot from ROM again, just type F12 and:

configure noboot

Serial mouse driver

OS3.1 doesn't support serial mouses, a driver is required.

Get pcmouse.zip from here: https://web.archive.org/web/20181109130904/ftp://ftp.uni-stuttgart.de/pub/systems/acorn/riscos/util/mouse/

Load the driver:

dir !pcmouse
rmload pcmouse

If you're using Uniboot, copy !PCMouse to the !Boot.Choices.Boot.Tasks for it to start on boot.

Install SparkFS

Support for unzipping .zip files

http://www.riscos.com/ftp_space/generic/sparkfs/index.htm

Transfer files via the Gotek drive

Assuming you have a Gotek drive with FlashFloppy, you can use MSDOS images to transfer files. To create an image:

dd bs=512 count=2880 if=/dev/zero of=floppy.img
hdiutil attach -nomount floppy.img # check the disk output, ex: /dev/disk7
newfs_msdos -f 1440 -F 12 -v DOS disk7
hdiutil detach disk4

Now attach and copy files:

hdiutil attach floppy.img
cp ~/Downloads/tool.zip /Volumes/NO\ NAME
umount /Volumes/NO\ NAME

In RiscOS change the Filetype to "Zip". Make sure you have SparkFS installed.

Transfer big files via floppies

You can use !Split https://www.steve-potts.me.uk/software.html to split big files into multiple floppies. On MacOS, go to split/Support/Source and compile. Then:

$ ./Splitf -filesize 1400 bigfile.zip
Using file size of 1457152 bytes.
here1read_size 32768here2Using buffer size of 32768 bytes.
here3Writing data to bigfile01.spt
Writing data to bigfile02.spt
2784393 bytes written to 2 files.
Use : joinf bigfile01.spt
to restore file.

You now have two files, bigfile01.spt and bigfile02.spt that you can copy to two floppies and restore back in the Acorn.

Another simpler way if you use Flashfloppy and a Gotek drive if you can create bigger floopy images:

dd bs=512 count=5760 if=/dev/zero of=floppy.img
hdiutil attach -nomount floppy.img
newfs_msdos -f 2880 -F 12 -v DOS disk4
hdiutil detach disk4

Extract floppy images using Greaseweazle

To dump a floppy disk to a file that you can use in a emulator or Gotek drive, install Greaseweazle and then:

gw read --revs 5 --tracks c=0-80:h=0-1 output.scp

And then use HxCFloppyEmulator to load output.scp. Export to HFE file (SDCard HxC...). Copy to Flashfloppy/Gotek pen and load it in the Acorn.

celso/a3020.md