Can PBL 1.3.5i load from DVD?

[catfish]

I know PBL 1.3 can, but 1.3.5 gives errors reading boot.cfg.
Any ideas how to resolve this?

Also, can PBL load cromwell? I have had no luck as of yet.

[Artifex]

Originally posted by catfish
I know PBL 1.3 can, but 1.3.5 gives errors reading boot.cfg.
Any ideas how to resolve this?

Also, can PBL load cromwell? I have had no luck as of yet.

Hi catfish! Been awhile!

We've not tried loading PBL off of DVD... any version! However, there was a minor change made between 3 and 3.5i that could be the root of your problem. If you take a glance in the sourcecode for both, you'll notice a call to a "MapDrive" function in the main function. This drive-mapping function is intended to map the xbe's path to a drive letter for easier access to support files. This is primarily just a 'development shortcut' done to make coding simpler, but it would appear that there is some cost to the user, afterall.

The minor change i speak of is that in 3, we remap the path to the "D:" drive. however, during development and testing along the way towards 3.5i, we found that this caused some users problems after a failed or cancelled bios load. So, we changed this to map the path to the "P:" drive. It is possible that, when running from dvd, this path mapping does not occur properly. With 3, this would not be a problem, since the path was "D:" anyways.... but, with 3.5i, it causes complications.

The workaround? :( You could change the path mapping in 3.5i to "D:" and recompile... but you will find this difficult as the source references some ports/adaptations of supporting libraries which we've not yet released. However, if you took the time to strip the splash screen, usb, and menu code from the source, you should be able to recompile fine.

Sorry I don't have better news. I'll discuss this with the other phoenix guys and get back to you with another solution, or we'll forego the drive mapping in the next release.

--Artifex

[catfish]

Originally posted by Artifex
Hi catfish! Been awhile!

<snip>

The workaround? :( You could change the path mapping in 3.5i to "D:" and recompile... but you will find this difficult as the source references some ports/adaptations of supporting libraries which we've not yet released. However, if you took the time to strip the splash screen, usb, and menu code from the source, you should be able to recompile fine.

Sorry I don't have better news. I'll discuss this with the other phoenix guys and get back to you with another solution, or we'll forego the drive mapping in the next release.

--Artifex

Again, it's Artifex to the rescue. :-)
I think those omitions could be a blessing in disguise.
1. splash-screen gone should be faster loads and no display of corrupted video on the focus chip.
2. USB gone should be a fix for multiple DVD devices causing freezing.
3. menus gone would mean the user couldn't select any BIOS except the one u want. (unless AltRomfile still works)

Any ideas about Cromwell? Orrrr, maybe I should try Xromwell from DVD now that these I got those fonts working.

[Artifex]

Oh, i compleatly forgot...


On the subject of booting cromwell via PBL...

A) Not happening
B) Why would you want to? That's what xromwell and xbeboot are for.

:)

--Artifex

[catfish]

doh!
I completely forgot xbeboot. I just recently discovered that the mech-evox fonts allowed me to to boot a DVD.
And I've also had no luck using Xromwell to boot my Debian installation, I can only boot it from Evo-X.

thanks again.