Pi/GEOS 1.1

    • New

    Hi Tomas,

    First I need to give you an apology regarding Pi/GEOS. The 1.1 version works well on my Pi3B with CI-latest. I must have been dabbling with one of the previous versions, when I got the performance issues. I will use this version of Pi/GEOS on my Pi, and skip the DOSBox version.

    I also tried to install a Geosworks 1.2 installation, but get an error message in Pi OS. Below is the screen shot.

    I have also noticed when I exit the menu, I need to press ctrl+esc to exit and then ctrl+c multiple times to get to the cli mode (terminal or prompt or whatever one calls it).

    • New

    Hi Hans,

    it looks like pigeos-loader is missing some settings (at least DOSBOX_BIN) from Pi/GEOS global configuration stored in /usr/local/etc/pigeos.conf. Please unsure that this file is sourced in the first line of your Pi/GEOS user configuration file $HOME/.pigeos It's content should look like

    Code
    . /usr/local/etc/pigeos.conf
FDA_IMG=NONE
FDB_IMG=NONE
....

    If your Pi/GEOS configuration is messed up at all can try to restore the defaults by running a system update from the Linux console executing pigeos-setup update Please note that this requires a working internet connection.

    Thomas

    • New

    I dont know if you are still developing pigeos? One wish from me would be to add an option to boot to dos prompt in DOSBox directly, if possible?

    I had an issue with the graphics driver in my pi and the 7 inch screen and the 800x480 resolution. It is impossible to edit the geos.ini to resolve the issue as geos.ini is embedded in the hdd-img file. However, I managed to resolve it by adding a monitor that supported the default 1024x768 and the wanted 800x480, so everything works now at viable speed.

    As a sidenote, I prefer to have a folder mapped as a drive, as this folder is accessable in unix (pi os) and as a drive in DOSBox. I understand that there is advantages to have a image file to avoid file corruption. Just my point of view

    Edited once, last by hanslse (April 27, 2025 at 12:15 PM).

    • New
    Quote from hanslse

    As a sidenote, I prefer to have a folder mapped as a drive, as this folder is accessable in unix (pi os) and as a drive in DOSBox.

    Since Pi/GEOS 1.1 this already the case - at least for all GEOS versions >4.0.2. The folders containing the different GEOS installations in /home/pi/hdd_images are still named *.img, but they are folders that can be easily accessed from Linux e.g. to edit GEOS.INI GEOS 1.x unfortunately still needs to be installed into a "real" image, as it will not run inside the emulated DOS. Therefore a Open-DOS kernel must be booted from within the image.

    Regarding your errors it looks like some file permissions are wrong. This maybe is a result of the modifications you made to the system. I would recommend you to export all working installations using the build-in disk export function to a FAT32 formatted USB pen drive directly attached to the pi. Then do a fresh install and import the images back. Please keep in mind: you must use "pi" as the default user name in raspberry pi images, otherwise some things like the host access from GeoComm will not work.

    I already played with a newer 64-bit release of PI-OS to check if it would be possible to build a newer version compatible with the Pi500. To my surprise most things did work, but some packages e.g. the ones required for the USB auto-mount are missing. As I haven't seen any improvements in performance from using the arm64 dynamic recompiler on the Pi400 I will probably stick with the current version until anything significant breaks.

    Thomas

    • New

    I was a bit unclear, it is two different rpi, the 3b+ works, well.

    The second one is a B+ and this is the one I planned to use for Ensemble 1.2, due to lesser performance. I have already reinstalled it, twice. I have not touched anything, except installing the 1.2 from the menu. Maybe the problem is that is a B+ and a older hardware with a different OS configuration? My guess is similar as yours, sounds like a permission error, as everything I can think of to check, looks correct.

    Hopeless case, the doctor cried.....

    I will try to google the problem.

    • New

    Have not found any thread googling the problem. When investigating the problem: There is no dosbox-session.conf created. When I investigated the pigeos-loader script:

    Line 19 is about [autoexec] section.

    Line 21 is about loading the hd-image.

    Line 43 is about loading keyboard driver

    Line 44 is about call autoexec.bat

    Could it be a problem with the Ensemble 1.2 image?

    • New

    I have tested PiGeos with Pi 3B+ and Zero 2W and they works well with PiGeos. So, I guess these are the lowest entry point hardware wise, to run PiGeos?

    PiGeos does not work with:

    Raspberry Pi B+

    Raspberry Pi Zero v1.3

    Raspberry Pi Zero W v1.1

    • New

    Hi Hans,

    it looks like over the time I have optimized the recent DOSBox build to run on ARMv8 supported Pis only. This would also explain why there isn't that much of a difference compared to an arm64 build...

    If you really want to use your Pi1 for GEOS 1.x you could try to install & use the default dosbox:

    Code
    # unlock dosbox
echo "dosbox install" | sudo dpkg --set-selections 
sudo apt -y install dosbox
# switch to system DOSBox in /usr/local/etc/pigeos.conf
sudo sed -i 's/DOSBOX_BIN=.*/DOSBOX_BIN=\/usr\/bin\/dosbox/' /usr/local/etc/pigeos.conf
# trigger 2nd stage setup process during next boot
sudo sed -i 's/CONTINUE_SETUP=.*/CONTINUE_SETUP=2/' /usr/local/etc/pigeos.conf

    To exit DOSBox running a "real" DOS you need to kill it by pressing Ctrl+F9

    Thomas

    • New

    Thanks, for all the input. Okay, then I understand why.it does not work, no problem.

    I happy to run Geos 1.2, thanks again :)

    I have noticed another issue, during the boot I get the message that drive U: is mounted, but there is no U: available in Ensemble 1.2, neither in DOS. What am I doing wrong? I have tried small usb memories, 256 MB, but it does not work. Should the memory be smaller? Or can you give me an hint what to do to mount a drive that will be accessable in DOSBox, or even in 1.2?