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[bmwcyclist]

Is there a way to boot from a floppy or other device when using the selector?

I am using the Selector on an internal ESProfile and I don't get an option to boot off of my FloppyEMU when I have a disk mounted and or the Apple key on startup diag. It just goes right into Selector.

[AlexTheCat123]

Try hitting the spacebar a couple times after you hear the first click in the self-test. Once the test finishes, it should go to the Startup From... menu instead of booting straight off the ProFile. And then you should be able to startup from floppy with no issue.

[bmwcyclist]

Thanks!

On a side question, Is there any trick to getting Lisa Guide to work? I have download Lisa Guide v2 and v3 floppies from Mac Repository and can't get either of them to boot. When I mount the floppy in LOS it tells me to boot off of it.

I know I ran it once before.

Is there a .profile image version?

[stepleton]

@AlexTheCat123's advice is what to do, of course, but it got me thinking...

The Selector can't initiate a boot from a floppy drive, but it does (allegedly) support a variety of other booting strategies through its obscure, rudimentary, and only partially-tested scripting facility. This includes booting from one parallel port and then continuing to boot from an ESProFile or a Cameo/Aphid device hooked up to another parallel port. It doesn't support booting from a different kind of parallel drive on a different port. That said, this is such an obscure capability that I'm not sure it's ever been done under any circumstances anyway.

It would not be too difficult to add floppy booting to the Selector's repertoire of scripting commands: conceivably, you could boot into the Selector, have it automatically set up some hard drive images on several of the parallel ports, and then boot from a floppy. I'd be interested to hear about circumstances where this functionality would be valuable.

[stepleton]

And while we're talking about obscure, not-really-tested Selector features: https://codeberg.org/stepleton/cameo/src/branch/master/aphid/selector/selector.x68#L178

[bmwcyclist]

I'd be interested to hear about circumstances where this functionality would be valuable.

Here are my circumstances.

This weekend I am hosting the Retro Computer Village at the Queen City Con (Cincinnati's largest IT/Security event), (specifically the Vintage Hacking Village inside the RCV).

I will be doing 3 Lisa demos per day for a scheduled audience and ad-hoc demos all weekend.

Being able to show off as well as have people use the Lisa Guide would be invaluable, as well as a tour of the full LOS 3.1.

Currently, the only way I know of to run the Lisa Guide is by booting from a floppy. However, that is not working for me right now either. I have downloaded the images twice, and they seem ok, but after a quick read, they dismount on boot. They will open in LOS, but it tells me to boot from the floppy. I did a check in BLU and it seems to read all of the (virtual) sectors. I even tried a LOS disk repair just for the heck of it.

LOS install boots from my FloppyEMU just fine.

.



 

[AlexTheCat123]

The LisaGuide diskette doesn't actually have LOS on it in any form. That is, it doesn't have SYSTEM.OS, SYSTEM.LLD, or any of the other system files needed to boot the OS; it only has the LisaGuide executable and related files because there isn't room on a 400K floppy for anything else. Heck, there's barely room for the executable; that's why it has to be packed!

What you have to do is boot your existing LOS installation on your hard drive to the Environments Window with the LisaGuide diskette inserted, and then there should be a LisaGuide option that pops up as a second environment next to LOS (or a third if you've got the Workshop installed too). Just select and boot into that, and you'll be up and running.

Not sure if you've ever booted into the Environments Window before, but the easiest way to do that is to shut down LOS (hit the power button) while holding the Apple key. It'll say that it's returning to the Environments Window instead of turning off. Once you're at the window, choose the No Default option, which will cause it to go to the Environments Window on every boot instead of autobooting into LOS. This way, you can pick between LisaGuide and LOS every time. Just make sure you have the LisaGuide disk inserted as the Lisa is booting to the Environments Window or else the LisaGuide entry won't show up!

For more info on what the Environments Window is, go read my write-up in the Lisa source compilation readme here. I describe the whole boot process, including the role of the Environments Window (SYSTEM.SHELL).

And dang, I had no idea that the Selector could show a splash screen! How cool is that?

[bmwcyclist]

Worked like a charm! Thanks Alex!

[stepleton]

> And dang, I had no idea that the Selector could show a splash screen! How cool is that?

I have literally never tested it :-) But to be clear, it's just a 128x32 pixel bitmap in the top left-hand corner (if it works), not anything bigger than that. Suitable for a snazzy little logo perhaps.

The Selector should remain compact to limit loading times. But one of the things I had a mind to write someday... was a kind of Selector Companion program, another bare-metal assembly language program that did a few of the functions listed under Potential Improvements, should the need arise. To the Selector it would just be another hard drive image to boot from. Among its facilities would be a FatBits-style bitmap editor for drawing or changing the Selector boot logo.