Archimedes Level 4 File Server

[martinw]

Hi,

Mark very kindly sent me a Level 4 fileserver floppy when I bought my A3000 from him.

When I double click on Level4 icon I get an error message "System resources cannot be found ".

If I shift double click the file there's a comment in there that reads.

Ensure RMASize configured to 1024K.

I presume it means RAM, but does anybody have any idea which RAM, and where/how I should change it?

Thank you.

Martin

[danielj]

It's the relocatable module area - you can either do it with the memory widget off the acorn icon (I can never remember whether it's middle or right button, but you get all the bars showing the memory allocation), or from the commandline:

https://www.riscosopen.org/wiki/documen ... %20RMASize

d.

[RobC]

The "system resources not found" error is usually because the machine hasn't seen a !System folder.

If this is the case and you're using a floppy, you'll need to insert Apps disk 1 before trying to launch the File Server application. If you're using a hard drive, either install the universal boot structure or put !System in the root folder.

[martinw]

Perfect, thank you, I'll do both

Martin

[martinw]

Getting there I think, now it's looking for 'System:modules.ABClib'

Martin

[paulv]

It looks to me like you need Uniboot installed. ABClib is in that and many others too that you may well need.

http://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/con ... r-RISC-OS/ has links yo the original and several updated versions from different folk. I need to update my version with the latest FPEmulator module and a couple of other modules but it's perfectly serviceable for what you want.

Paul

[martinw]

Thank you Paul, I'll give that a go

Martin

[danielj]

Digging this up from the depths...

Does anyone have a copy of Level 4 version 1.30 knocking around? I've got 1.0 but I get the impression there are more bits-and-widgets (and no doubt bug fixes) in 1.3.

Doesn't seem to be on anyone's website either - is there a reason for it? Is the ghost of Acorn enforcing copyright on it?

Very grateful if anyone could oblige

d.

[paulv]

I think I'm running 1.3x, I'll check and PM you if I am...

EDIT: I am running 1.30 and you have a PM

Paul

[danielj]

Right... Getting "Type Mismatch" every time I run this.. Also having to manually double click !System otherwise it moans about wimpmanager not being anywhere... Have I got things set up really badly?

Uniboot is a dark mystery to me...

d.

[paulv]

I guess the first thing to check is the "Exports" file in the "!Server" app. Make sure that you're only exporting partitions of your HDD that you want on FileSystems that exist.

Paul

[danielj]

Hmm, no, that's not it - it's just exporting ADFS drive 4 which exists as it's the HDD

Odd. There's clearly something somewhere that's not making sense to it. Do we have any scanned versions of the documentation?

d.

[paulv]

Nope. I've never seen scans.

Give me 24 hours and I'll zip up my working folder. Hopefully that'll work out of the box for you.

Paul

[danielj]

Thanks Paul - I think I might have to get back to an unadulterated uniboot if that doesn't work. I'm still not sure why the modules in !System aren't being seen unless I explicitly click on it...

d.

[danielj]

OK, we're up and running thanks to Paul. There are two rather important piece of documentation that don't seem to be anywhere:

The Acorn Level 4 File Server Network Manager's Guide and the AUN Manager's Guide - does anyone have copies of these they'll submit to the scanner?



d.

[jgharston]

There are two rather important piece of documentation that don't seem to be anywhere:
The Acorn Level 4 File Server Network Manager's Guide and the AUN Manager's Guide - does anyone have copies of these they'll submit to the scanner?

I've got those, I can scan them in when I have time.

[danielj]

Thanks JGH. I've gone through all the repositories of scanned documents I can find and they're definitely never made it into the wild. I can't imagine they're that niche?

Happy to put a bit of scanning in myself if needs be.

d.

[IanB]

Doesn't seem to be on anyone's website either

A collection of Level 4 fileserver stuff was posted on here but it's buried in the Wakefield show thread:

http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewto ... 120#p85437

[lcww1]

There are two rather important piece of documentation that don't seem to be anywhere:

The Acorn Level 4 File Server Network Manager's Guide and the AUN Manager's Guide - does anyone have copies of these they'll submit to the scanner?

Does anyone know if these documents ever surfaced? I'd really like to read the Level 4 File Server Network Manager's Guide, if it remains in existence...

I'd be very happy to help with scanning, if that's the rate limiting step in making the L4FSNMG publicly available

[opsy]

Are you near Cambridge?
http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/ ... ileserver/

[matt_nottm]

CJE have these in stock:

<http://www.cjemicros.co.uk/micros/indiv ... e=ACO-L4MG>
<http://www.cjemicros.co.uk/micros/indiv ... CO-AUNGUID>

[lcww1]

Are you near Cambridge?
http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/ ... ileserver/

Aha! Thanks for pointing this out! I happening to be visiting some friends in Cambridge later this week, so I could look in at the CCH - I wonder if they would allow a scan of the manual?

CJE have these in stock

Many thanks for locating these Matt - my searches of the CJE catalogue somehow never turned these up So I’ll just buy these, then scan and share, if I can’t get them done at the CCH.

Anyhow, excellent progress!

[lcww1]

Visited the CCH with my family today, and had a thoroughly good time! This was my first visit, and I was delighted with the hands on exhibits - it was great to be able to have play with a (mostly) working Atom for a while

Anyhow, back to the matter in hand - whilst the people at CCH were very helpful and friendly, they explained to me that they needed some advance notice for access to materials in their archive, so on this occasion I was not able to get my hands on either the L4MG or the AUNMG, alas - though it seems that this might be feasible for a future visit, if I arrange access in advance.......

Lastly, CJE have advised that they have no remaining copies of the L4MG (I’m waiting to hear about the AUNMG), so that source has already been exhausted

So, these elusive documents continue to evade my grasp, and therefore the quest continues...........

[lcww1]

CJE have confirmed that they have the AUN Manager's Guide, so I've bought that, and will scan and share in due course....

The Level 4 File Server Network Manager's Guide essentially remains MIA, as far as I can discern, but I've emailed the nice people at the CCH to see whether we may be able to take a scan of their copy of this, assuming that they do actually have the document in their archive - I've not set eyes on it myself, and seeing is, after all, believing .....

[BeebMaster]

According to my records I have these:

Level 4 File Server Network Manager’s Guide (RISC-OS 2 Version)
Level 4 File Server Network Manager’s Guide (RISC-OS 3 Version)
AUN Manager’s Guide Issue 1
AUN Manager’s Guide Issue 2
TCP/IP Installation Guide
TCP/IP User Guide

They were in storage until 2012 and then brought home. Unfortunately that means they are currently "lost at home" but I will try to track them down.

These type of Acorn wire bound books I can't scan as they need a decent flatbed scanner to them a page at a time, which I don't have. However I can lend them to someone to scan as long as the binding isn't destroyed during the process.

[lcww1]

Many thanks for this BeebMaster

I can scan the AUN Manager’s Guide, when it arrives from CJE (though I’m not clear which issue of this I’ll receive).

I’m really interested in the Level 4 File Server Network Manager’s Guide (RISC-OS 3 Version), and I’d be happy to scan that page by page on my flatbed scanner - let me know if that would be acceptable from your POV, and then if so we can sort out the logistics via PM......

[matt_nottm]

Thank you, I am more than happy to help share the scanning with lcww1, if required, to ensure we have all the different versions (including Risc OS 2 versions) scanned in high resolution. I have access to a large A3 MFD scanner so keeping the binding intact is no problem. I'm also happy to contribute to postage.

I am also happy to scan any other Econet resources startdot members have, as per the thread here:
http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewto ... 32&t=14823

I'm eager that we replace some of the helpful, but very low quality, scans of some of the Econet material.

[lcww1]

I am more than happy to help share the scanning with lcww1

Excellent! Maybe we can get all these documents scanned and archived

[lcww1]

Ok, so here's my scan of the AUN Manager's Guide, issue 2 - it's saved as a searchable PDF (I've used the long-term preservation PDF/A format).

AUN Manager's Guide, issue 2

The PDF file is 158.3MB, so is too large to upload here. I've put a copy of the pdf file in my Dropbox, and I'll leave it there for the foreseeable future, though if someone would like to host the file at an appropriate archive site, then I'd be delighted with that.

Here's the Dropbox link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kbe41trea0o7f ... e.pdf?dl=0

I'm sure the scan quality is not the best achievable, but it looks serviceable, and the text search seems pretty good.

Share & Enjoy!

[matt_nottm]

Perfect, thank you!