BugFix patches for Psion netBook published! [Archive]

pokepoc

09-20-2005, 06:01 AM

Hi all.
Article with Psion netBook OS cumulative patch was released.
You can read more at:
http://www.vakoveverky.net

PS: Sorry for big delay.
Enjoy it.

Cheers,
Poke^Patisoners.

Jonas

09-20-2005, 09:46 AM

MartinG

09-20-2005, 10:48 AM

Agreed - very cool.

Suggestion for next version: how about the IrDA / Auto switch off fix?

Best regards,
Martin

Mobilix

09-20-2005, 02:09 PM

Great!

I forwarded the info to PsionWelt.net (http://www.psionwelt.net) also!

Ciao
Mobilix

cshandley

09-20-2005, 02:59 PM

Anyone tried this out yet? I'm a bit wary of trying it, since I don't know which Z: (ROM) files are modified.

wanman

09-20-2005, 03:09 PM

I would also be interest to hear from anyone who has tried this. I assume you have to completely reinstall the whole operating system (i.e. hard reset?). Or is this a patch executable which can be installed without reinstalling the entire OS again?

Jonas

09-20-2005, 03:41 PM

No, you need to patch your OS.IMG and perform a hard reset then... (No big deal with backup and Atomic Time ;) )
It works all perfect and I really like the displaying of the Z: drive without creating a virtual disk for it.
It patches following files:
Shell.app, Eikon.dll, ApGrfx.dll, Toolbar.opo, Toolbar and InstApp.aif.

No bugs or problems discovered yet.
Greets, Jonas

wanman

09-21-2005, 01:59 AM

Any chance someone can host the already patched os.img file? Also is it worth upgrading now....or is there more interesting fixes on the way?

osg

09-21-2005, 02:34 AM

For those worried about this patch, I am using this patched image over 6 months (excluding Z: drive patch, which is fresh) without any problems.

Patching the binary files is extremely difficult. It is nearly impossible to make major improvement or new feature in the system.

So, if anyone of you have some Epoc system source code, which was not put in standard SDK's, please send it to us. Specifically Shell, device drivers...etc. That could help improving/bug fixing current system.

MartinG

09-21-2005, 03:50 AM

I installed the 'new' OS yesterday and can confirm that it seems to work as advertised. I'm impressed.

Another suggestion for Petr: It might be a good idea to modify (increment?)the OS version details - so that it can be easily tracked. I'm not sure how difficult it is to insert code (as opposed to just replace it) but maybe keep the OS number the same and add 'Mod 1', 'Mod 2', etc.?

Martin

Jonas

09-21-2005, 05:45 AM

Any chance someone can host the already patched os.img file?
If you want, you can download it here (5 MB) (http://boni.worldfreeweb.com/data/OSmodded.rar). I'll immediately delete this file if you want it. But it's an ease to patch it by yourself...

Greets, Jonas

ohsix

09-21-2005, 09:09 AM

This is Mr Simple Guy talking again. I really don't understand after reading through the original reference link, so don't think I can do the patch myself. I agree with Wanman about being able to get a completely patched OS.

Jonas, is your 5mb link the complete patched OS? That's what I'd like.

Keith

Jonas

09-21-2005, 09:19 AM

Yes, Ohsix, it is the patched OS :)
It is packed into a high compressed rar-file, to keep the server-traffic low ;) (Open it with e.g. 7-Zip)
Jonas

ohsix

09-21-2005, 10:21 AM

Thanks, Jonas. I'll keep it until the next time I have to do a hard reset, then try it. The way things go with me, I'll probably have to do a hard reset in the near future. :-)

Keith

wanman

09-21-2005, 12:05 PM

Thanks Jonas - what a top bloke. I have downloaded the file now. Just need to find the time to perform a rebuild now ;)

MartinG

09-21-2005, 01:04 PM

If I might be so bold, 'tis an excellent time to check that your favourite backup program can correctly backup c: to d:... ;) LOL!

wanman

09-21-2005, 01:18 PM

Oh how I wish it was able to back up the registry file like Psiwin ;)

pokepoc

09-21-2005, 01:47 PM

All really fine, thanks pokepoc!
Keep on going, Patisoners!

I only have one question: What does this means:
Backup battery status visible on OPL Toolbar (toolbar.opo and toolbar source). (improvement)
How can this be accessed? Do you need to set a command in your source-code? If yes, which command is it?

Greets, Jonas

Hi Jonas.
If backup battery is wrong or missing, area around battery icon in OPL toobar
have red color.
See, into the toolbar sources. Toolbar sources was patched too. :-))

Bye,
Poke.

pokepoc

09-21-2005, 01:52 PM

Agreed - very cool.

Suggestion for next version: how about the IrDA / Auto switch off fix?
Best regards,
Martin

Hi Martin.
IrDA/Auto switch off bug still exist on netBook?
I thought that no.
Can you explain it more.

Thanks,
Poke.

MartinG

09-22-2005, 09:30 AM

IrDA/Auto switch off bug still exist on netBook?
I thought that no.
Can you explain it more.
Hi Petr,

I think (and if anyone wants to correct me on this then please do) that the problem is that if the auto switch-off is set to 30 minutes or more then IrDA stops working properly. There is a fix for it at http://www.psipoc.net/ - although in truth I've never tried it.

Martin

cshandley

09-22-2005, 05:35 PM

Just in case there's anyone who can't (or doesn't want) to download a 5MB RAR file, and finds using the command line too difficult, I have recreated pokepoc's patch using my (IMHO friendlier) patch system. It's a 7KB ZIP file, which should be attached to this message.

For anyone interested:
I had to seriously modify how my PatchApplier program worked, because it *would* have needed 30MB of free memory to patch the 15MB OS.IMG file! It now does most of the work directly on the file, rather than using an in-memory copy of the file. In theory it could also run faster.

However, it is also worth mentioning that my patching system will take MUCH longer than pokepoc's to patch the OS.IMG file - about 10-15 minutes in total. This is mainly down to the fact that my patch system, unlike pokepoc's system, (a) checksums the original file to ensure that it is being used on the correct file, (b) creates a backup file, and (c) checksums the patched file to ensure that it was patched correctly.

wanman

09-23-2005, 02:18 AM

Nice work Chris. I still feel that the real 'wouldn't it be nice if' we could apply these patches without having to hard reset and reinstall the OS.

MartinG

09-23-2005, 04:05 AM

I still feel that the real 'wouldn't it be nice if' we could apply these patches without having to hard reset and reinstall the OS.
Hmmm... Somewhat akin to performing open-heart surgery whilst a) the patient is still conscious and b) without anesthetic? ;) Pre-patching the file is more like 'growing' a fresh heart from stock and then operating on it in advance to 'improve' it before transplanting with full anesthetic.

Each to their own I guess! :D
Martin

(PS: Sorry - I haven't had my coffee yet this morning...)

wanman

09-23-2005, 04:50 AM

If they could patch the OS on the 7 then surely it must be possible on the far more flexible netBook.....or maybe it isn't. Perhaps I should be less lazy ;)

MartinG

09-23-2005, 07:36 AM

Apples and pears I think. IIRC the 7 has a ROM and a FlashROM and was deliberately designed so that small patches could be applied to the FlashROM. The nB, OTOH, is all RAM - some of which is designated 'protected' for the purposes of loading the OS into. Trying to patch the live OS - even if technically possible - would be a case of working on volatile memory. Not for the feint of heart and hence my comment above! ;)

wanman

09-23-2005, 02:34 PM

ok just upgraded the OS and it was very painless thanks to fastbackup ;)

Colin Messer

09-27-2005, 04:42 PM

Excellent! That was easy to patch and apply. Thanks.

sundancermartin

09-29-2005, 03:57 AM

Hi Guys I've read this thread with great intrest. I am somewhat of a novice to the netbook & have a couple of questions
1) how will this patch improve my netbook
2) can someone give a step by step guide on how to perform it, as it all seemsa little daunting

also once the patch is installed How do I ensure it remains on my machine during hard resets etc :confused:

Jonas

09-29-2005, 06:09 AM

1) how will this patch improve my netbook
Take a look at the first page of this thread. All improvemenst are listed there.
2) can someone give a step by step guide on how to perform it, as it all seemsa little daunting
The easiest way for you might be downloading the already patched OS from my page:
http://boni.worldfreeweb.com/data/OSmodded.rar
If you want to apply the patch by yourself post here again and I will explain it step by step ;)
also once the patch is installed How do I ensure it remains on my machine during hard resets etc :confused:
As you may know, the OS of your netBook is loaded after a hard reset. The boot file is placed e.g. on your CF card. This file is the one that got patched. Leave it at the disk after a hard reset and your system is patched till the next hard reset :-)

Greets, Jonas

Colin Messer

09-29-2005, 11:44 AM

I'm glad you mentioned "how will this patch improve my netBook". I know about Martin's battery status OPL fix, I've seen the Z: drive in the shell list box, and Poke wrote "If backup battery is wrong or missing, area around battery icon in OPL toolbar
have red colour" . The other 4 changes I don't know anything about. On Poke’s webpage it says “More about all netBook OS image bugs and bug fixes you can read next articles in near future.”

The process used to apply the patch was as follows:

To patch the OS.img:
1. Install bpatch.exe in c:\system\programs
2. Back-up C:, I use fastbackup
3. Copy my OS.img to D:\ - i.e. the root of the D drive
4. Copy bpatch.exe to D:\
5. Copy nb_450uk.img.dif to D:\
6. Start EShell
7. Enter d: to navigate to the D: drive
8. Enter bpatch d:\nb_450uk.img.dif d:\os.img
9. Hard re-set and load the patched OS.img
9. Restore C: from backup

Regards
Colin

wanman

09-29-2005, 11:47 AM

I have this installed now and fixes seem to be working except the backup battery absence displayed on the icon. I removed my battery to test it and although I got the warning message confirming it was now missing the battery icon was fully green as normal. This was with and without the power cable.

osg

09-30-2005, 03:37 AM

Backup battery indication is patched in OPL TOOLBAR. It means that in the system shell you won't see any difference. You should start OPL application which is using ROM toolbar. Notice that not all opl applications are using that toolbar from ROM.

Conkers

10-01-2005, 09:30 AM

I updated my OS using Martin's patcher and then downloaded and used fastbackup.
All working perfecrly now, although I appear to have the E Drive (where I use my Connect Card/Buffalo Card) showing up even when it is empty.
Just using PsiWin to back up the whole thing now

Ian

pokepoc

10-03-2005, 03:33 PM

Hi again.
I prepare cumulative patch for US netbook OS image
file NB_453US.IMG.

Please, try it someone and report if everything is OK.

Thanks,
Poke.

MartinMaxwell

10-03-2005, 07:18 PM

If backup battery is wrong or missing, area around battery icon in OPL toobar
have red color. See, into the toolbar sources. Toolbar sources was patched too. :-))

Just curious. This is the same feature as in dpToolbar.

http://www.dp.com.my/dpNotes.htm#dpNote0017

Is it actually dpToolbar patched into ROM?

Does the external power indicator come up as well?

pokepoc

10-06-2005, 03:12 PM

Just curious. This is the same feature as in dpToolbar.
http://www.dp.com.my/dpNotes.htm#dpNote0017
Is it actually dpToolbar patched into ROM?
Does the external power indicator come up as well?

Yes, dpToolbar is very good toolbar.
But, my patch don't implement dpToolbar because, I don't know this toolbar. :-(
Thanks for information.

Maybe in some new releases of my patches. But at first author of dpToolbar must release sources of dpToolbar, because dpToolbar must be a bit modified before including to the image. ;-)

I try contact author with this request later.

Poke.

pokepoc

10-06-2005, 03:18 PM

Many people contact me with question how patch another language variant of netBook and mBook OS image. So, I made BIG cup of tea (Earl Grey of course) and prepare patch files for all supported language variant of netBook and mBook images.

Now is supported this language variants:

NB_450UK.IMG - Version: 1.05 (450) – English (UK) – ASCII (Release 158)
NB_453US.IMG - Version: 1.05 (453) – English (US) – ASCII (Release 158)
NB_456FR.IMG - Version: 1.05 (456) – French (FR) – ASCII (Release 158)
NB_457GE.IMG - Version: 1.05 (457) – German (GE) – ASCII (Release 158)
NB_462SP.IMG - Version: 1.05 (462) – Spanish (SP) – ASCII (Release 158)
MB_281UK.IMG - Version: 1.05 (281) – English (UK) – ASCII (Release 158) (for mBook)

More you can read here (http://portal.vakoveverky.net/modules/articles/article.php?id=6).
It was been hard work. Uff.
Enjoy it.

Poke^Patisoners.

MartinMaxwell

10-06-2005, 09:06 PM

I try contact author with this request later. Poke.

Well, eer, I *am* the author. I would be happy to work with you on this whenever you're ready. There are a few more status indicators in new versions which I haven't released yet.

As an additional benefit to OPL programmers, burning dpToolbar into the ROM image would also include additional OPXs.

Suomiman

10-07-2005, 04:40 AM

Many people contact me with question how patch another language variant of netBook and mBook OS image. So, I made BIG cup of tea (Earl Grey of course) and prepare patch files for all supported language variant of netBook and mBook images.

Now is supported this language variants:

* NB_450UK.IMG - Version: 1.05 (450) – English (UK) – ASCII (Release 158)
* NB_453US.IMG - Version: 1.05 (453) – English (US) – ASCII (Release 158)
* NB_456FR.IMG - Version: 1.05 (456) – French (FR) – ASCII (Release 158)
* NB_457GE.IMG - Version: 1.05 (457) – German (GE) – ASCII (Release 158)
* NB_462SP.IMG - Version: 1.05 (462) – Spanish (SP) – ASCII (Release 158)
* MB_281UK.IMG - Version: 1.05 (281) – English (UK) – ASCII (Release 158) (for mBook)

More you can read here.
It was been hard work. Uff.
Enjoy it.

No Dutch OS ... one with AZERTY support (Belgium) and one with QWERTY support would be great

pokepoc

10-10-2005, 02:19 PM

No Dutch OS ... one with AZERTY support (Belgium) and one with QWERTY support would be great
Hi.
I will ready to prepare patch for your OS variant.
But I haven't this variant.
If Dutch OS netBook image exist somewhere on web, paste link to this forum.

Thanks,
Poke.

pokepoc

10-10-2005, 02:31 PM

Well, eer, I *am* the author. I would be happy to work with you on this whenever you're ready. There are a few more status indicators in new versions which I haven't released yet.
As an additional benefit to OPL programmers, burning dpToolbar into the ROM image would also include additional OPXs.

Hi.
Sorry, I don't read credits about dpToolbar carefully. :-)
Please contact me thru this contact page.
http://portal.vakoveverky.net/modules/contact/

I don't want public my email address in any webpage.
I hate spam,spam,spam,eggs and spam. :-))
Thanks,
Poke.

cshandley

10-11-2005, 03:22 AM

Have you thought about showing your email address as a picture? That should be more than sufficient to stop spammers. (If you are paranoid, then there are extra steps that you can do.)

Stargazer

10-12-2005, 10:19 PM

Get a SpamGourmet (www.spamgourmet.com) account! You can create aliases which redirect to your real email account and supply a unique one to each person/company you deal with. If you start receiving spam on an alias, you then know who is responsible and can close it without affecting others.

stolkjo

11-01-2005, 05:34 PM

I have downloaded and patched the UK OS, US OS and the mBook OS. All three work as advertised. Well done.

John

ohsix

11-01-2005, 08:45 PM

I just got my nB back from Costas (fixing a screen calibration problem), used the patched UK OS (when I tried the US OS some time ago it gave some problem with some app which I can't remember), then ran Chris Handley's .opo. All in working order.

Keith

zolee

11-07-2005, 05:46 PM

Pokepoc & Anyone!

My idea has been found.

zExe (http://www.mypsion.ru/zexe.php) itegrate for netbook OS! :rolleyes:

pokepoc

11-16-2005, 08:25 AM

zExe (http://www.mypsion.ru/zexe.php) itegrate for netbook OS! :rolleyes:
Yes.
Is it's possible make it with PsiRom tool.
But why?
You don't use zExe at the rom application, because this application run directly in the rom address space. :(
Poke.

ohsix

12-26-2005, 12:53 PM

A few months ago I had to install an OS on my nB. I used Chris Handley's patch setup to do this. Recently I was referred to a site (http://www.psionwelt.de/workshop/ospatch.htm) where I saw that the Z drive was shown with the new patch being installed when you click on the little drive circle of the title bar.

Mine doesn't show the Z drive. Are there differences between the Handley and Jonas OS.img? I'm just curious as to why I don't see the Z drive - I'm not really interested in going through a complete new OS installation (unless I have to). Maybe it's just some simple thing I've forgotten to do when I installed the OS.

Keith

Jonas

12-26-2005, 01:00 PM

Handley and Jonas OS.img
Guess you mean Handley and Pokepoc.
However, if you downloaded my OS (which I posted at first page) it's the same I use. And it shows me the Z-Drive.
If you really got the new OS, this should also be on your machine, unless you didn't edit the .dif-file by yourself...

Greets, Jonas

KvdS

12-27-2005, 02:56 AM

ohsix

12-27-2005, 10:46 AM

If you really got the new OS, this should also be on your machine, unless you didn't edit the .dif-file by yourself...

Greets, Jonas

Jonas, what is a ".dif-file" and what am I supposed to edit?

Keith

Jonas

12-27-2005, 12:17 PM

The .dif-file is the file which lets BPatch know what parts he should edit and how.
You can open it with Editor, however, you don't need this because you use CSHandleys Tool to edit the OS.IMG.
Are you sure you have the patched OS loaded into your netBook / 7Book, if not, it should explain why you can't see the Z: drive...

Jonas

ohsix

12-28-2005, 12:24 AM

Are you sure you have the patched OS loaded into your netBook / 7Book, if not, it should explain why you can't see the Z: drive...

Jonas

I reckon that's the problem. I made the wrong assumption that Handley's patch .opo would *patch* the OS, so I just put the netBook UK OS on a CF card along with his patch files.

I now put the *patched* OS you posted onto the CF card, did a hard reset, then a FastBackup restore and I now see the Z drive OK.

This is the sort of thing that happens when one does what the military taught me not to do - anticipate the command. :D

Keith

KvdS

12-29-2005, 01:29 AM

There is an other OS (http://boni.worldfreeweb.com/OSuhr.rar) by Jonas, with an other clock (http://free.pages.at/boni/images/colormagic.jpg) .

Jonas made an update of his site (http://free.pages.at/boni/index.html)

So here a new link to the OS (http://boni.worldfreeweb.com/OSuhr.rar) with the other clock (http://free.pages.at/boni/images/clockbig.jpg)