ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

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Spinwiz
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ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

Hi, my name is Alex(Spinwiz). I have watched the ReactOS project for some time now, but unfortunately have not had any success in booting it until recently.
Finally I have had the opportunity to see ReactOS working on VirtualBox and was impressed with how far it has come =)
I then decided to see if a few software packages would run on the system and was pleasantly surprised.
That was 3 weeks ago, I have now tested about 2000 software packages and stand alone apps on ROS, and have about 250 working with minor glitches, and about 180 without any issues.
In the last few days I managed to get ReactOS up and running on an old Toshiba Tecra A3 (Manual Install , install disk can't see the sata drive. Had to start with a a VirtualBox image and Grub)
I did try to get ROS running on a little Toshiba with Intel Atom, but could only get a desktop from 1 in every 20 boot attempts, so i gave up and draged the Tecra out of the box and dusted it off.

Anyhows I have a working 'Real' Machine as old as it is, to try testing some possibilities with and was wondering how I can get involved in a helpful way with ReactOS and also a little bit of a 'Help Kick-start'.

Q1. The AC97 drivers work with reactOS under VBox and allow for basic media playback. The Toshiba Tecra uses Realtec AC97 Drivers and install with some pushing and shoving. The Logon Wave sounds but I cant seam to get audio from any media player(Im tesing with multiple Versions of AC97 drivers). If there is a discussion, or info Specific to Audio Drivers and ReactOS media playback maybe A point in the right direction?

Q2. The main Current reason for Installing ROS On Hardware is to test a number of server applications. My test machine at the moment is an old WinXP Mach with an older version of VirtualBox and the Host/Client Networking is buggy.
The Toshiba will allow me to eliminate The VirtualBox 'Quirks' from my test and run a handfull of server Apps on real ethernet on my lan. I have and will have a lot of test results form running servers on ROS. A few or the servers are CLI so i'll be scripting up some Gui front ends for them. Where is the best place to post Results for Testing, and a list of working software related to servers.

Q3. I have a long list of test results for all the software that I have thrown at ROS. Some Install, some need to be pushed(manual install) some need extra RunTime libraries. I don't want to step on any toes, so how far can I Go with posting?
For instance, some apps require VB6 runtime, I would accept this as a normal Install, But Because ROS Is a little outside the box so to speak, am I getting into 'Grey' licencing issues?

I would like to be of help where I can, I'm ok with Scripting languages like AutoIt, but C/C++ im very weak. So Maybe some Testing, and post to help others based on what I've tryed.
Appreciate ant advice guys =)
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Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by PurpleGurl »

You may need to slipstream your SATA driver, particularly if it is set up as AHCI or RAID. If that is not the case, then I guess the UNIATA driver needs more work. It is possible that the kernel and driver support needs more work, so likely on the sound, you are doing nothing wrong. The support needs work. This is still in the alpha stage.

Yes, networking needs more work. There are changes to the LwIP implementation, but they are not merged yet AFAIK.

Yes, you will likely need some Microsoft libraries. As long as ROS itself doesn't ship with such files, there should be no licensing issues. The license mainly relates to the developers of the software you use. If a programmer uses a certain compiler that requires certain libraries, then the programs are usually licensed to ship with the libraries as provided in the compiler agreement. As far as I know, discussing how ROS works if certain Windows components are installed is fair game. Just don't do any disassembly and then try posting the source. That is the main thing to avoid. This is an independent implementation.
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dizt3mp3r
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Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by dizt3mp3r »

Post your successes in the Epic Wins thread complete with images, it helps!
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
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Black_Fox
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Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Black_Fox »

Spinwiz wrote:I would like to be of help where I can, I'm ok with Scripting languages like AutoIt, but C/C++ im very weak. So Maybe some Testing, and post to help others based on what I've tryed.
Appreciate ant advice guys =)
Hi Spinwiz and thanks for your quality first post :-) I can't answer the Q1 (Realtek AC97 drivers on the Tecra) and regarding Q2, currently there is no general testing results database aside of the pre-release ones. In the past there used to be a compatibility database, but it's now rather read-only and not accessible from the new website. As for Q3, installing redistributable packages is a bit of a grey area, but in this forum it's understood you have to install these packages to get some software running.


If you feel like helping the team with testing and can script, there are multiple opportunities.

ReactOS contains many tests (also called apitests or winetests), which are written in C; the tests run after each change of code, after each revision, to detect any improvement or regressions. But these tests only test ReactOS itself, not the programs you'd want to run on it. In the past there was an activity to get the AutoHotKey (AHK) automated testing for these 3rd party programs off the ground, so that any issues with the programs could be detected and tracked automatically. There were some fruits of that activity, maybe you could expand on that. Since the project seeks testing of many apps prior to each release, this could decrease the amount of work to be done... also it could run after each code change like the C tests, not just before releasing.

Another way to help is to retest bugs in JIRA - some of them weren't touched for over a year and maybe the problem was fixed already as part of related development, it's only that the issue wasn't retested since.

Trying out applications as you did and logging JIRA issues for those that don't work is also a good approach.

You can do whichever of these things interests you the most. I understand from your post that your planned amount of testing is quite large, in that case I recommend to visit the project IRC #reactos. You can ask the devs/project members about the way you should take, they will point you in the right direction. Also, in the IRC you might find Edijs, who spearheaded the AHK testing.
Spinwiz
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Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

Thank You for your replies =)
by PurpleGurl » Sat Sep 10, 2016 5:39 am
by dizt3mp3r » Sat Sep 10, 2016 12:24 pm
by Black_Fox » Mon Sep 12, 2016 4:11 pm

I've left the audio alone for the moment', and continuing with Network apps, mostly to eliminate the the 'floppy-net'' USB-Net that I am currently using to transfer files. As Usb Drives don't recognize, I have to boot into a WinPe to get through small file tasks. I now have several working "Out of the Box" Apps that will handle file sharing so all good. I have several stable Server/client apps for ftp, http etc that I rechecking atm.

I'm currently Dual booting the old Toshiba Tecra A3 with React on Partition1, and Hirens' on Partition2. I couldn't get the default ROS MBR/PBR to write to the drive so I'm using Grub 1.4 to load freeldr and Hirens'. This makes it easy for me to keep a few custom install images on the second Partition. On FAT32 it's easy to restore from a 7z archive.

As soon as I have retested the working/Not-Working software list that I have I will post a short list. It gets a little messy as many I have pulled from disk archives dating back to the start of 32bit and are probably considered 'Abandonware'.
Don't worry, most are recent such as 'SeaMonkey' Web browser, the default browser won't connect to a server Admin on loopback.

Thanks again heaps for you help
ALex
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matthiasbasler
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Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by matthiasbasler »

Spinwiz wrote:The AC97 drivers work with reactOS under VBox and allow for basic media playback. [...]The Logon Wave sounds but I cant seam to get audio from any media player
I can't say it works always, but usually when the control panel shows the driver in the "Sounds and audio devices" dialog then it works for me. Can you check what happens if you test the only sound of the "ReactOS Standard" sound schema, which is "ReactOS_Logon.wav"? (In this mentioned dialog.)
I used an old version of Winamp 2.9.1 for testing sound (simply because I like the design of it), and it worked out of the box.

To your third question: I am a new forum member myself. I asked and got told I can post own tests in a new thread, so I would recommend the same to you. I personally considered the "General discussion and feedback" forum most appropriate since software tests are not "off topic" imho, in the contrary. (P.S. My list contains some "Abandonware" as well, but I don't mind if this software does the job.) You might, however boil down your list to software that might be interesting for others ... 2000 packages is a bit too much to read imho. ;-)

I can't help with licensing issues. You should simply read each runtime's license. If you think some terms prohibit installing in ReactOS then don't install it.
I noted that ReacOS 4.2 application manager already brings you many MS runtimes in an easy-to-install manner, so I guess others have made up their mind already.

Matthias
Spinwiz
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Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

matthiasbasler wrote:
Spinwiz wrote:The AC97 drivers work with reactOS under VBox and allow for basic media playback. [...]The Logon Wave sounds but I cant seam to get audio from any media player
I can't say it works always, but usually when the control panel shows the driver in the "Sounds and audio devices" dialog then it works for me. Can you check what happens if you test the only sound of the "ReactOS Standard" sound schema, which is "ReactOS_Logon.wav"? (In this mentioned dialog.)
I used an old version of Winamp 2.9.1 for testing sound (simply because I like the design of it), and it worked out of the box.

To your third question: I am a new forum member myself. I asked and got told I can post own tests in a new thread, so I would recommend the same to you. I personally considered the "General discussion and feedback" forum most appropriate since software tests are not "off topic" imho, in the contrary. (P.S. My list contains some "Abandonware" as well, but I don't mind if this software does the job.) You might, however boil down your list to software that might be interesting for others ... 2000 packages is a bit too much to read imho. ;-)

I can't help with licensing issues. You should simply read each runtime's license. If you think some terms prohibit installing in ReactOS then don't install it.
I noted that ReacOS 4.2 application manager already brings you many MS runtimes in an easy-to-install manner, so I guess others have made up their mind already.

Matthias
Thanks for the reply.
I used the default "ReactOS_Logon.wav" as my test source as It sounds correctly during Logon. All sounds fail after that. I'll get back to audio at a latter time.
With Software tests, I'll break it into a few sections beginning with working titles (about 200)
licensing is always going to drift into "Grey" areas, so I'll do my best to stay on the safe side.
Spinwiz
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Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

Grub Legacy Multiboot ReacOS + Hirens' - Hardware Based Install (Unofficial Guide)

ReactOS V0.4.1 on VirtualBox V4.2.12 r84980 with WindowsXP SP3 Host
ReactOS V0.4.1 on Toshiba Tecra A3 Intel Celron 1.5GHz 246MB Ram Samsung 80GB SATA

I had a some difficulties finding a pc that ReactOS would boot on, and managed to get it up and
running on an old Toshiba Tecra A3 laptop. I previously tried a Toshiba with an Intel Atom and
Could only manage one successful boot to desktop out of 30 tries. The Tecra threw a lot of
'Unexpected' behaviour at me too. The boot cd would stall on boot, or make it to the setup screen
then fail to find the hard drive. USB booting failed due to unfinished USB drive support..
Oddly enough I had encountered some similar issues when attempting to install WinXp on the same
Machine. So what to do? Copy a pre-created image onto the Tecra hard drive Partition and boot it,
Simple.. Not so, I couldn't find a successful method of writing the boot sector to hard drive.
After rattling my brain for a little, and looking at a couple of old forum posts I decided to
try multibooot from GRUB4DOS with much success =)

Hopefully my experience with Installing and Mutibooting ReactOS may be of help to someone else.
The following is just one of many possible methods to setting up ReactOS on a real machine. Some
Information may also be of use even if the default CD Install works and you wish to run a multiboot
system to easily recover a damaged ReactOS Install. This is not an Official Guide, just an account of
what has worked well for me. I will only cover ReactOS as the Primary Operating system and
Hirens' BootCD as a recovery medium here, even a Freedos, or *Nix distro can used be in place of Hirens'
with minor changes to the boot loader.

Multi-Booting ReactOS from Hardware based Machine and using Hirens' as a recovery medium:
Manual Install.

Tools/Software Required/Recommended:
  • Working from any windows Operating system
  • ReactOS BootCD V0.4.1 (V0.4.2 not tested as yet)
  • Virtual Machine capable of booting ReactOS (i.e. VirtualBox)
  • Hirens' BootCD V15.x (Dont Use NT6 Boots i.e. Win8 as Legacy GRUB is not compatible with UEFI)
  • 7zip ( any recent version)
  • BootICE V2012.09.20 Included in Hirens' (Alternative any version supporting Legacy GRUB V0.4.5+. Do Not use GRUB2)
  • NotepadEx (Alternative Notepad++)
  • ImgBurn (Or suitable cd burner software)
  • GImageX v2+
  • Hardware (PC, Cd-Burner, Blank CDs etc.)
Prerequisites:
Basic knowledge in setting up and installing an OS in a Virtual Machine is assumed.
Read the complete 'How To' before begining. Some stages can be altered depending upon your skill level.
Stage 4.0 can be completed first if you are familiar with remastering WinPE Boot Media.

1.0 Create ReactOS Install Files in a Virtual Machine:

1.1
Create a new Virtual machine and Create a 1 GB VHd (.vhd 'Virtual Hard Disk' i.e. ReactOs.vhd)
Load ReactOS BootCD iso and begin the install process and allow the default install process
to proceed until the install files are copied to disk and the first reboot is reached.
Leave the React OS Boot CD loaded and select restart..
STOP the virtual machine from rebooting to the next stage of the install and
shut down The Virtual Machine Program. Be quick in stopping the next stage before it begins
or you may have to repeat from the beginning.

You now have a copy of the ReactOS install media on virtual hard disk ready to begin the install/setup process.

1.2
Navigate to the folder containing the newly created Virtual Hard Drive and create a new folder named RTemp.
Open the VHD with 7zip and you will see all of the install files contained in the drive. Select all files and folders
Then Select 'Extract' and choose the 'RTemp' folder. All files will be extracted to the 'RTemp' folder and should appear as follows.

bootsect.old
freeldr.sys
freeldr.ini
[ReactOS]

Select all files as above in the RTemp folder and right click select '7zip' 'Add to Archive'. Select Compression level 'Store',
And click 'OK' to create an uncompressed 7zip archive named RTemp.7z (It should be approx. 200-250MB)


2.0 Setting up a Hardware Based PC:

2.1a
USB BOOT:
If your Test pc is USB Bootable then you can use a bootable USB Drive for this step. See YUMI(pendrivelinux.com) for how to create
multiboot USB. Create a Bootable USB with Hirens' as the default Boot. Copy RTemp.7z and notepadex.zip to the USB Drive.

2.1b
CD-ROM BOOT:
Burn a Hirens' Boot CD from the Hiren's.BootCD.15.x.iso
Copy RTemp.7z and notepadex.zip to a Usb thumb drive. If USB is not available then burn the 2 files to a 2nd CD-Rom.
(Alternatively remaster the 'Hirens' Boot CD'. Step 4.0)

2.2
Boot the Host PC with Hirens' MiniXp. (CD-ROM or USB)
Navigate Hirens' program launcher to 'Partition/Boot/MBR' and select 'DiskGenius(Partition Table)'.
Prepare the hard drive by creating 2 Primary partitions formatted to FAT32
Partition-1 at least 5GB, allocate the rest of the drive to Partition-2
Mark the Primary partition (Partition-1) as Active.
Reboot the PC

(You can use any partitioning method that you are comfortable with here i.e. GParted Live)

2.3
With the PC booted to hirens' MiniXp ..

2.3a
For low RAM PC:
Go to Start Menu - Programs - Set Page File(For Low RAM PC) and Select 2nd Partition(D:)
Input 1024 init. and 2048 Max. and then select set. The page file on the second partition will not interfere with ReactOS.

2.3b
Create a new root Folder and call it Tools. Any name will do.
D:\Mytools

2.3c
For low RAM PC:
Navigate to D:\HBCD\Programs\Files\Notepad.7z Copy Notepad.7z to D:\Mytools\Notepad.7z and unpack the archive.
then copy D:\HBCD\Programs\Files\BootICE.7z to D:\Mytools\BootICE.7z and unpack the archive.
You now have D:\Mytools\Notepad\notepad++.exe etc. and D:\Mytools\BootICE\BootICE.exe

2.4
Writing GRUB bootsector to the hard drive:
2.4a
Open Hirens' Program menu and select - Partition/Boot/MBR - BootICE(Boot sector install/change)
or D:\Mytools\BootICE\BootICE.exe

2.4b
With BootICE running select the Tab 'Physical Disk'. Ensure the Destination Disk matches the machines correct hard drive.
Select 'Process MBR' and select the radio 'GRUB4DOS 0.4.5c/0.4.6a MBR'
Select 'Install/Config' leave the default settings and select save to Disk.
Close the 'Master Boot Record window'.
Removed > writing to the MBR is not really necessary, it just ensures that no unusual Boot loaders are installed.
This will search all Partition roots for the GRUB Boot Loader 'GRLDR' and 'menu.lst'

Removed >
2.4c
With BootICE running select the Tab Physical Disk. Ensure the Destination Disk matches the machines correct hard drive.
Select 'Process PBR'.
Select 'Partition-1' from the drop down menu.
select the radio 'GRUB4DOS 0.4.5c/0.4.6a (FAT/FAT32/NTFS/ExFAT)'
Select 'Install/Config' leave the default settings and then select 'Save to Disk'.
Close the Partition Boot Record window and Exit the BootICE program.
This will search for the GRUB Boot Loader 'GRLDR' and 'menu.lst'


2.5
Copy [HBCD] Folder and contents from th USB/CD to Partiton-2. Partition-2 is now your recovery and backup partition.
D:\HBCD

Open/Run D:\Mytools\Notepad\notepad++.exe
Copy the following into the default notepad++ page:

Code: Select all

title ReactOS Grub 
root (hd0,0) 
chainloader +1 
makeactive 
kernel /freeldr.sys 
#
title Boot HBCD 
find --set-root /HBCD/menu2.lst 
configfile /HBCD/menu2.lst 
Save it in the root Directory of Partition-2 as menu.lst (.LST)
D:\menu.lst

Navigate to D:\HBCD folder and rename menu.lst to menu2.lst
Copy D:\HBCD\grldr to D:\grldr (grldr must be in the drive root to be found)
Rename the original Copy D:\HBCD\grldr to D:\HBCD\grldr.bak

2.6
If your hardware does not have a USB Port skip this step and go to 2.7
Insert your USB drive containing RTemp.7z and notepadex.zip
From the MinXp Desktop select 'Install all Hardware (HWPNP)' to install USB Drivers.
Copy RTemp.7z and notepadex.zip to D:\Mytools
OPEN RTemp.7z with 7zip Open Archive
On the Tool Bar select Extract and enter your Primary Partition C:\ then click OK
The default ReactOS setup is now installed on your first Partition.

2.7
Reboot your PC. If all went well you should see the GRUB Boot menu.
Select 'Boot HBCD' then in the Hirens' menu select 'Mini Windows Xp'
You should now have the MinXp Desktop.
If The device has no USb(Step 2.6) then insert the second CD-Rom containing RTemp.7z and notepadex.zip
If the CD-ROM drive fails to display in 'My Computer', select 'Install all Hardware (HWPNP)' from the MinXp Desktop .
Copy RTemp.7z and notepadex.zip to D:\Mytools
OPEN RTemp.7z with 7zip Open Archive
On the Tool Bar select Extract and enter your Primary Partition C:\ then click OK
The default ReactOS setup is now installed on your first Partition.

2.8
If all has gone well at this point you will have ReactOS Setup on Partition-1, HBCD on Partition-2
GRUB Multiboot loader and menu.
Example Drive/Directory structure:

MBR GRUB4DOS 0.4.6a
PBR GRUB4DOS 0.4.5c

C:\
C:\ReactOS
C:\freeldr.ini
C:\freeldr.sys
C:\bootsect.old

D:\
D:\HBCD
D:\HBCD\menu2.lst
D:\grldr
D:\menu.lst
D:\Mytools
D:\pagefile.sys


2.9
Reboot and select 'ReactOS Grub'
You should now see the default ReactOS freeldr boot menu.
Select ReactOS to continue with the default ReactOS setup.

If all has gone well, you now have ReactOS, and Hirens' as a recovery partition.


3.0 Create a ReactOS Recovery Image

If You are comfortable that your Base install has succeeded, Make a backup.

Boot into MinXp, use 7Zip to create an archive of the entire contents of drive C:\
Use 7zip 'Store'(No Compression) It is faster and requires less RAM.
To restore, delete the contents of C:\ (No need to format), unpack your favourite install to C:\
(If You Re-format you will need to re-write the boot sector. Refer to 6. BootICE PBR)
It's a good idea to create a few backups at successful install points.
ie. RTemp.7z Baseinstall.7z Base_drivers.7z Base_drivers_apps.7z

This method of backup and restore is fast and convenient. I can easily trash 10 ReactOS installs in a days
software testing, a few clicks and you have a clean install. This method only applies to FAT partitions.
For NTFS/ExFAT etc you will need to use a standard drive/partition imaging tool such as Ghost32.

You Can also use the Second partition as a staging/work area for storing software that you wish to test.


4.0 Remaster WinPE Boot Media:
Sometimes Hirens' has difficulty loading the included software on low RAM PCs. The zip files are unpacked
into a Temp folder on RAM Drive X: (This Drive cannot make use of the Page File)
To get around this copy the 7zip archive containing the software you want to use to a folder on the
Second partition. Unpack and run your apps from there. Most modern PCs will not encounter this issue.

Unlike the default Windows recovery disks, Hirens' does not contain a default notepad. You unpack a copy of
noetpadex.zip and copy Notepad.exe to X:\I386\System32 (This will be lost at next boot)

The better option is to Remaster the Hirens D:\HBCD\XP\XP.wim

Remaster .wim file:
Wim Mounting will only succeed from your Windows drive, Usual C:

4.1
Create 2 directories in your C:\ drive of your main computer.(Not The Test Machine)
C:\1mnt
C:\1wim

4.2
Copy D:\HBCD\XP\XP.wim from the CD to C:\1wim\XP.wim
Open GImageX
Select the Tab named 'Mount'
Mount Point C:\1mnt
Source C:\1wim\XP.wim
Image 1
Select Read Write (tick)
Select 'Mount'
Close the Image Mount in Progress window

Unpack notepadex and copy Notepad.exe to C:\1mnt\I386\System32\Notepad.exe

Highlight the mounted image in GImageX and select 'Commit Changes' then 'Unmount'.

4.3
Copy the XP.wim file to USB drive and Rename it to _XP.wim

4.4
Boot the Test Machine into 'Hirens' Mini XP'.
Copy _XP.wim to D:\HBCD\XP\ on the test Machine. You will now have 2 files _XP.wim and XP.wim
Close the Hirens Program Menu in the task tray.
Rename XP.wim to 1XP.wim, and _XP.wim to XP.wim (ie swap the default with new XP.wim)
Delete the renamed 1XP.wim if you wish to save space.
This will work as long as you do not open additional windows/apps during the rename process.

Next MiniXp reboot will give you a default notepad.


5.0 Additional Notes
Its also worth noting that the default copy handler in ReactOS is glitchy..
Install Teracopy to get around this when it happens.(select 'add to context Menu' in TeraCopys' Options)
I normally use an older copy of flo's Notepad2 v1.0.09 as a replacement notepad. Unfortunatly recent versions
require msvcp60.dll, msvcrt.dll. Notepad2 will work if you copy the DLLs into its working directory.
Notepad++ or any notepad replacement will work. I have used NotepadEx because it is convenient.
The older version of Notepad2 works well with ReactOS, just replace the default notepad.
7Zip is also a bit of a necessity when working with files and archives.


I hope this will be of use to others trying ReactOS.
I look forward to comments and suggestions, and if positive I will refine this how-to and post it in the Main Forum.


References:
-https://www.virtualbox.org/
-http://www.vmware.com
-http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd
-http://www.hirensbootcd.org/
-http://www.hiren.info/downloads/freeware-tools/bootice
-http://www.hiren.info/downloads/freeware-tools/gimagex
-http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html
-http://www.van-roermund.nl/notepadex/ "NotepadEx v1.7.7.4 zipped"
-http://www.imgburn.com/
-https://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manua ... /grub.html
-http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multi ... b-creator/
-http://reboot.pro/links/
-http://winbuilder.net/
-http://www.7-zip.org/
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_boot_record
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volume_boot_record
-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booting

TODO:
Recreate this method with alternative recovery environments
ReactOS + GParted Live (cancelled)
ReactOS + DSL (cancelled)
ReactOS + Puppy Precise (completed)
GRUB2 UEFI Boot (Future)

Draft Copy
Revised 28/09/2016
Revised 08/10/2016
Alex Maddern
Last edited by Spinwiz on Sat Oct 08, 2016 3:30 am, edited 4 times in total.
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Black_Fox
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Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Black_Fox »

Spinwiz wrote:Grub Multiboot ReacOS install - Hardware based (Unofficial Guide)
You might want to polish/visually structure that guide a bit and post it into Tutorials section :-)
Spinwiz
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Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

Thanks Black_Fox » Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:18 am
Any advice/suggestions are welcome. I have a few more post in the pipeline so I'll drop them here as drafts just to gauge responses before posting in the main Forum.
Plus I am still familiarizing myself with the forum itself to get an idea of preferred layouts.
Spinwiz
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Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:53 am
Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

My Essential ReactOS Software List

The following list is a condensed summary of my tests of about 1000-2000 Stand-alone Apps and software suites.
I'm only going to include working software here, not the entire list.

Some of the remarks will contain ratings of the software. Let me be clear, this is not a reflection upon the
software vendor nor the quality of the application. It is only a reflection of the ability of ReactOS to
successfully host the application at its' current stage of development.

Test Specifications:

BOOT:
  • GRUB Multiboot
  • Freeloder
System:
  • ReactOS V0.4.1
  • Partition1 (Primary OS)
Host Hardware:
  • Toshiba Tecra A3
  • Celeron 1.5GHz
  • Intel Chipset
  • 256MB RAM
  • Samsung 80GB SATA
Drivers:
  • Ethernet - Yes
  • Audio - Partial
  • Chipset - ReactOS Generic
  • Video - ReactOS Generic
  • Display - ReactOS VGA
  • Mouse - Yes
  • IDE - Intel ICH6M SATA Controller
  • Serial - Yes
  • USB - Partial
My default Essential Software set:
7Zip V9.38 -http://www.7-zip.org/
  • Installer - yes
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
TerraCopy V2.3.0.0 -http://www.teracopy.com
  • Installer - yes
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
Command Here shell extension

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\Command Prompt Here]
@="Command &Prompt Here"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\Command Prompt Here\command]
@="cmd.exe /k cd %1 "
MiniTool Partition Wizard Home edition V9.0.0.0 MiniTool Solution Ltd.
  • Installer - ?
  • Function - 80% (can't Repartition NTFS)
  • Portable - Yes
Notepad2 V1.0.9.0 (c) Florian Balmer -http://www.flos-freeware.ch/
  • Installer - N/A
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
SumatraPDF V2.1.1+ -http://blog.kowalczyk.info/software/sumatrapdf/
  • Installer - Yes
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
KchmViewer V7.5 -http://www.kchmviewer.net/
  • Installer - Yes
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
SearchMyFiles V2.7.3.0 Nir Sofer
  • Installer - N/A
  • Function - 99%
  • Portable - Yes
Dependency Walker V2.2.6000.0 Steve P. Miller
  • Installer - N/A
  • Function - 80%
  • Portable - Yes
CFF Explorer V8.0.0.0 (Common File Format Explorer) Daniel Pistelli
  • Installer - ?
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
Executable File Explorer V1.4.2.0 (c) MiTeC Michal Mutl
  • Installer - ?
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
Regshot-x86-ANSI V1.9.0.281 Regshot Team
  • Installer - ?
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
WhatChanged V1.0.7.0 Vista Software, Inc
  • Installer - ?
  • Function - Full (Caution! Check Proccess Priority durring use)
  • Portable - Yes
Universal_Extractor V1.6.1.0 -http://www.legroom.net/software
  • Installer - N/A
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
MJRegWatcher V1.2.8.1 Mark Jacobs
  • Installer - ?
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
Process Viewer Application V5.2.15.1 Igor Nys 1995-2005 -http://www.prcview.com
  • Installer - No
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
Unlocker V1.9.2 Cedrick Collomb unlocker.emptyloop.com
  • Installer - Yes
  • Function - 95%
  • Portable - Yes
SeaMonkey 2.32(+2.40) -http://www.mozilla.org
  • Installer - Yes
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
Files transfer (Client-Server) V1.2.0.10 file-transfer.sourceforge.net
  • Installer - No
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
Abyss Web Server X1 V2.11.1 Copyright © Aprelium
  • Installer - Yes
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
AceFTP (acFTP-1.5) -http://software.visicommedia.com/en/pro ... pfreeware/

IndiFTPD Avissar Software

WinSCP V5.5.0.3839 Martin Prikryl -http://winscp.net/
  • Installer - ?
  • Function - Full
  • Portable - Yes
chkdsk-gui (Included Only as a quick aid for use in Win-Boot environment. Not For ROS)
The above list is offered in the hope that someone may find it usefull =)
All constructive comments are welcome.

Revised 29/09/2016
Alex Maddern
Last edited by Spinwiz on Thu Sep 29, 2016 6:29 am, edited 1 time in total.
Spinwiz
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:53 am
Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

Software Tested and Running On ReactOS

The following list is a condensed summary of my tests of about 1000 -2000 Stand-alone Apps and software suites.
I'm only going to include working software here, not the entire list. My Full list contains a basic summary
of each Applications dll dependencies, strengths, weaknesses, usability, or reason for failing if known.
Most Apps seam to stumble due to unimplemented library’s, resources APIs etc.

This began as a curiosity to see what software would work under ReactOS, and to my surprise quit a lot.
I discovered a glitch in the Copy/Paste functions and TeraCopy got me around this. The default notepad
stumbled with larger files so I substituted the older version of Notepad2 which also assisted with .ini .inf
file readability. My main objective was to Install Drivers, Create a multiboot testing environment with easy
backup and restore, to have a Media Player(failed), basic Office suite(Partial), Networking
tools and Servers(success). I now have a personal install set including apps to assist me with software
install monitoring, Backup and Restore for ReactOS, registry monitoring, driver monitoring, Networking and
file sharing over LAN.

The Other objective is a thought to creating some small Apps for ReactOS. I can already see some potential
for a few small helper/utility programs =)

This exercise has also allowed me to become intimate with ReactOSs' strengths and weaknesses, and there have been
many positive surprises. Most notably its kindness to the hard drive.

I hope this can be of use to others =)

Some of the remarks will contain ratings of the software. Let me be clear, this is not a reflection upon the
software vendor nor the quality of the application. It is only a reflection of the ability of ReactOS to
successfully host the application at its' current stage of development.

Many software titles will require additional runtime libraries, usually VBasic and C++. Often the application will
Show an error message displaying the missing dependency, or the use of an application such as 'Dependency Walker'
can help to identify missing files. Be aware some vendors ship runtime libraries with the installer and others do not.
An application may install and run if installed after a previous application that has silently installed runtime files, yet
may still require additional files if installed at another time. Take note of registry eateries and changed files with
each new app installed, or attempt to test with a clean ReactOS install for important software tests.

Test Specifications:

Boot:
  • GRUB Multiboot
  • freeloder
System:
  • ReactOS V0.4.1
  • Partition1 (Primary OS)
Host Hardware:
  • Toshiba Tecra A3
  • Celeron 1.5GHz
  • Intel Chipset
  • 256MB RAM
  • Samsung 80GB SATA
Drivers:
  • Ethernet - Yes
  • Audio - Partial
  • Chipset - ReactOS Generic
  • Video - ReactOS Generic
  • Display - ReactOS VGA
  • Mouse - Yes
  • IDE - Intel ICH6M SATA Controler
  • Serial - Yes
  • USB - Partial
Software Tested and Working on ReactOS

Accessibility:
  • On-ScreenKeyboardPortable_2.0 PortableApps.com
Backup: Development: I will test some common scripting engines, interpreters, compilers and assemblers some time soon.

Utilities:
  • CFF Explorer V8.0.0.0 (Common File Format Explorer) Daniel Pistelli
  • DependencyWalker V2.2.6000.0 Steve P. Miller
  • HashMyFiles V1.9.5.0 NirSoft
  • HxD V1.7.7.0 -http://www.mh-nexus.de
  • MiTeC_EXE V1.4.2.0 (c)Michal Mutl
  • MiTeC_hexedit V4.0.0.0 (c)Michal Mutl
  • MiTeC_OLExp V1.2.0.0 (c)Michal Mutl
  • OLEtools
  • Regshot-x86-ANSI V1.9.0.281 Regshot Team
  • Resource Hacker V3.6.0.92 (c) Angus Johnson -http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/
  • Showin V2.0.0.0 (c) FOundstone
  • SearchMyFiles V2.7.3.0 Nir Sofer
  • WhatChanged V1.0.7.0 Vista Software, Inc
  • WinExplorer V1.3.0.0 NirSoft
  • Winspector V1.0.0.37 -http://www.gipsysoft.com/
Drivers: File_Manager:
  • Nil
Archive Managers: Copy/Paste: Disk Tools:
  • Freeware_Linux_Reader V1.0.0.0 (c)DiskInternals Research
  • Freeware_NTFS_Reader V2.0.0.0 (c)DiskInternals Research
Image Tools: Multimedia: Office n Desktop: Notepads - editors: Registry:
  • More Testing required.
ScreenSavers: Security: System BackUp/Restore:
  • Ghost32 (Comercial) Symantec Corporation
  • Minitoolpartwiz V9 MiniTool Solution Ltd.
  • Minitooldrivewipe V5.0 MiniTool Solution Ltd.
  • Testdisk V6.14/5.8 -http://www.cgsecurity.org
System Information/Manage:
  • chkdsk-gui V3.1.0.15 Chris Hall (Included Only as and aid for use in Win-Boot environment. Not For ROS)
  • Cleanup V4.5.2.0 Steven R. Gould -http://cleanup.stevengould.org/
  • Cmd_Here shell menu extention (Similar to Command Here Powertoy) Text File = CmdHere.reg

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\Command Prompt Here]
@="Command &Prompt Here"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\Command Prompt Here\command]
@="cmd.exe /k cd %1 "

Web Browsers/html: Network:

Utilities: Serv_Client: Terminals: Remote Desktop:
  • Some VNC Server/Viewers work
  • Ultra VNC (OLD Versions)
  • Still Testing.
Flash:
  • Flash_Player (Up to Version 9):
  • Flash Games - most up to V9
Games:
Many Old Games (and some new) will work with ReactOS.
I am testing on a low end Machine, and Generic Video drivers.
They are too many to list here.

Java:
I have had very little success with anything Java Based.
Tests included the Latest JRE/JDK back to MSJavaVM.
Usually CPU goes to 100% + SLOW + CRASH + BURN
This was consistent on VirtualBox with 1GB RAM and
on the Toshiba Tecra with 256MB RAM

Virtual Machine: There are many more functional software titles in my list. Some have minor UI Control glitches so
I have excluded them from this list.

All constructive comments are welcome.
Enjoy =)

Revised 29/09/2016
Alex Maddern
Last edited by Spinwiz on Thu Sep 29, 2016 6:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Spinwiz
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:53 am
Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

I also have few screen caps of ReactOS running on the Toshiba laptop..Apps, server, other TCP/IP bits.. Just need to reorganize myself with some image hosting somewhere :/
Spinwiz
Posts: 19
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:53 am
Location: QLD Australia

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by Spinwiz »

"A picture is worth a thousand words"

[ external image ]
01 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - Desktop
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
02 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - System Properties
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
03 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - Device Manager
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
04 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - Abyss Web Server, Admin interface on Loopback
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
05 Browsing pages served from Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 on LAN
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
06 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - Browsing pages served from WinXp Machine on LAN (SeaMonkey)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
07 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - Browsing pages served from WinXp Machine on LAN (OffByOne)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
08 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - TCP/IP File Share and Chat over LAN
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
09 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - AbiWord
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
10 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - KchmViewer
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
11 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - Sumatra PDF
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
12 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - WordWeb 2
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
13 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - Everest Ultimate
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
14 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - MiniTool Partition Wizard Home Edition
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
15 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - Ghost32
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
16 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - SearchMyFiles
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
17 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - TeraCopy
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
18 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - PhotoFiltre 7
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
[ external image ]
19 Toshiba Tecra A3 with ReactOS V0.4.1 - "Dawn" Draft
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Last edited by Spinwiz on Mon Apr 15, 2019 2:41 am, edited 3 times in total.
User avatar
dizt3mp3r
Posts: 1874
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:54 pm

Re: ROS Newbie - Intro and directions

Post by dizt3mp3r »

Very good, your images make ReactOS look very usable indeed.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
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