Omega MIDI, ethernet progress - RISC OS News, Software and Information

Omega MIDI, ethernet progress

Published: 15th Mar 2004, 23:18:32GMT Source: drobe.co.uk
By Chris Williams

Page 1 of 1

What's next on the to-do list? [Updated]

Archive magazine editor Paul Beverley has this month revealed a couple of interesting developments emanating from the otherwise silent MicroDigital corner of the RISC OS world: reportedly the Omega's on-board MIDI system now works and also the Omega's ethernet networking is being beta tested by users.

The availability of the on-board MIDI will have ears of more musically inclined users perking up, especially since the Omega's rival, the Castle Iyonix, currently has no usable MIDI facilities. The progress in the ethernet side of things will also surely raise a marked sigh of relief. Last month, MicroDigital partner Desk expressed concerns regarding the amount of time MicroDigital were allegedly spending on each shipped motherboard, time which could be spent on addressing missing features, like ethernet and USB support.

The next issue of Archive will also feature an Omega progress report article, written by Paul following his own investigations. Fearing a potential backlash from MicroDigital apologists, he informed Archive readers last week: "I did try to find something positive to say, but if you think the article comes over as being 'anti-MicroDigital' I do hope you will write in and say some nice things that I can print."

Paul is also anxious to find out how many Omega units have been shipped to end users. Using RISC OS 4 serial numbers, printed on stickers affixed to each unit, Paul has estimated from user reports that there are less than 100 Omegas in the wild. The highest serial number he's been able to find is 300053, which belongs to the Big Ben Club. The MicroDigital online support forum also currently claims to have 98 registered users, but this includes Mico and Alpha users plus what looks like 29 'fake' accounts.

Despite the (toasty) warm reception Microdigital has given the RISC OS press in the past, we have to admire the way Paul's strived to be as unbiased and objective as ever. Paul also stressed: "I'm simply trying to find out the facts (isn't that a journalist's job?), and letting people draw their own conclusions."

Update at 18:31 19/3/2004
Paul Beverley has emailed in an update, commenting: "The max and min serial numbers are now 300003 and 300097, so it doesn't need an expert in statistics to work out how many MicroDigital-RISCOS Ltd licences there are."

Paul also clarified that his guess of less than 100 Omegas being in circulation actually included Alphas and Omegas. He adds: "What is more, the numbers of Alphas, relative to the numbers of Omegas seems to be in the ratio 2:1 and so this suggests, statistically, that there are probably in the region of 25 (min) to 45 (max) Omegas out there."

It's best that we point out that drobe.co.uk can't confirm Paul's findings, so while we're certain Paul is working in good faith, we'd welcome any correction and evidence from a knowledgable third party. While Paul's investigative work may alarm some of you, it will probably explain other users' concerns as to the apparent small online presence of Omega users.

Another interesting argument is exactly why should we be concerned about how many Omegas have shipped? An established userbase ensures that there's enough users to provide informal support to others (for example, on newsgroups and mailing lists), otherwise the burden of support is left solely to the developer (MicroDigital in this case, who are already overworked by the sounds of it). Also, how many of these Omega users are active software and hardware developers, primarily capable of writing software to take advantage of the Omega's promised features - namely, USB, PCI and MicroDigital's graphics system?

Perhaps it's just plain curiosity that we want to know how Omegas have shipped, journalists are by nature very nosey people. So moving swiftly on, how many Iyonixes have been shipped?

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Archive magazine

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Eddie (+0.1) 16/3/04 9:10AM	Having read Paul's article I didn't find anything really new or controversial in it. As to drawing conclusions, how many missed promises and non working parts does it take for people to get the message? At last years Wakefield show I asked both D Atkins and D Prosser how long it would take before XScale was availalable. Both said 6 to 8 weeks. Perhaps I can ask them the same question this year?
JGZimmerle 16/3/04 10:33AM	The created the fake accounts for test-purpuses (remember the forum is still in beta test) and they are not included in the forum statistics. I have just moved them to a different area of the UID space and compacted the database, so that the first 98 numbers actually have the first 98 real users in them.
Mendosa (-0.9) 16/3/04 10:37AM	So you believe the Omega debacle has helped the RISC OS market do you ? You think this has been a worthwhile investment in its future and development and hasn't distracted people from buying other hardware that actually exists - to specification - companies who deliver on promises ? Ok.
piemmm 16/3/04 10:44AM	In times like these I always go back to that good old 2001 advert I saw in the AU: [Link: www.drobe.co.uk] And then start laughing. Timescales as accurate as ever.
Eddie 16/3/04 11:48AM	In addition to Mendosa... I suspect the premature announcement of Omega damaged sales for RiscStation (and others of course); thus having a huge knock on effect on investement for a laptop. Perhaps Drobe could get some comments from Roy?
JGZimmerle 16/3/04 11:49AM	@Mendosa: Yes, I do believe, that the Omega has helped the RISC OS market. If we did not have competition inside the market, we would probably not have advanced at all. Also the Omega offers some things, that the Iyonix does not provide yet. MIDI is one of them, others are the parallel port, PS/2 ports and Select. And of course the Iyonix provides things that the Omega does not offer yet. Also MD have developed their own RISC OS compatible chipset, wich can be used with any ARM processor with very little modifications. So we are not dependant upon Intel or another chipset maker to provide us with a chipset wich gives the features and performance required for desktop computers. Hopefully in the future this will help to bring us faster processors a bit sooner, because usually new ARM processors are released quite a bit earlier than the embedded versions. For example the 80200 was available several months before the other Xscale variations.
JGZimmerle 16/3/04 12:03PM	Also the Iyonix is not without problems yet, either. Just last Saturday I tried one out again, and I found several things with it not working properly. Just minor little things, but among other things they still prevented us from using LanMan to connect to a WindowsXP machine. Specifically StrongEd's TaskWindow behaved very oddly when we tried to use LineEditor module (latest 32-bit version of course) and *help lmconnect correctly gave the help to LanMan's LMConnect command, but when we tried to use it, it just said, that it could not find the file lmconnect. It's just minor little things like that, wich are very annoying and take the fun out of RISC OS computing.
spellinn 16/3/04 12:06PM	The advanced availability of the 80200 doesnt appear to have had any effect on an "Omega with XScale" availability though, so thats really a mute point. The demand for MIDI is virtually negligable against the demand for fast stable Ethernet, and USB stacks. PS/2 and paralles are usefull additions, not essential and are now regarded as "legacy ports" with the move towards USB for keyboards, mice and printers. I admire Castle for having the guts to leave these out to obtain a shorter time to market. The one big advantage the Omega does have is Select, although personally theres no features in Select that I require. Claiming that MD have helped the RISC OS market by providing competition is a very weak argument IMHO. Do Castle really consider them /serious/ competition I wonder, and if so, would Castle have done anything differently if MD did not exist?
Spriteman 16/3/04 12:09PM	"It's just minor little things like that, wich are very annoying and take the fun out of RISC OS computing." Whereas with the Omega it is the lack of major things such as networking which take the fun out of RISC OS computing -- Spriteman
Col1 16/3/04 12:12PM	Personally I think that any competition to Castle has got to be a good thing. No offence to Castle who have done briliant work on the Iyonix but we don't want the RISC OS scene to become a one horse race. Competition promotes development. Ok MD may not be much competition right now but perhaps in the not too distant future who knows what will happen ?
Mendosa 16/3/04 12:29PM	In response to Col1... I disagree about the RISC OS market needing competition. In reality there IS massive competition out there already - Windows, Linux, Macs etc. Internal competition is simply fragmenting an already tiny market (not a massive problem with hardware if it's all to the same standard, I suppose, but the RISC OS 5 and Select situation is ridiculous). If Castle were the only player in the market they couldn't sit on their laurels because of the activity in "rival" platforms.
jonix (-0.1) 16/3/04 12:54PM	I'm sure that their main concern is keeping themselves afloat.
JWCR 16/3/04 3:31PM	God, I miss Acorn. A handful of developers each trying to out do each other has badly fragmented the RISC OS scene, leading to a great deal of frustrating duplication of developments. We really need one company in overall charge of the market, that can sub-contract development to different companies, thus avoiding the duplication, and leading to a much better overall product.
egel 16/3/04 4:12PM	Everything we (can) do is on the side wait till one sinks. And hope that the one surviving has still enough buoyancy to embark on. But what if they all go down together?
wuerthne 16/3/04 4:27PM	*In reply to JGZimmerle:* My Iyonix connects to my XP machine fine. No problems at all. I have never heard of LMConnect, nor have I ever used it, nor do I think you need it. In contrast to what you wrote, the command IS there: You may have wanted to try LanMan:LMConnect and read the section in the PRM about filing system specific commands. But maybe you think that reading manuals also takes away the fun out of RISC OS computing? Maybe *configure LMTransport IP would have helped, but like the command reference above, this really is a RISC OS thing, not an Iyonix thing.
JGZimmerle (-1.0) 16/3/04 5:20PM	Oh, I'm sure you always carry your complete collection of IT documentation around with you. Now that I'm home I've had another look at the exact syntax. Of course it was *LMLogon wich did not work. And I don't ususally use LanMan, but LanMan98, wich works much more reliable anyway.
dgs (-0.1) 16/3/04 6:51PM	*In reply to JGZimmerle:* No-one expects you to carry all your documentation around (except on CD...) But between "last Saturday" and now, you could've taken the trouble to check your facts, before posting misleading information in an attempt to run down a RISC OS product. dgs
piemmm 16/3/04 7:22PM	So, er, what exactly does whinging about LanMan have to do with Iyonix and Omegas hardware support?
hzn 16/3/04 7:27PM	To JGZimmerle Strange - my IYONIX connects to a Windows 2000 system via LanMan with no problems; can't think XP is different on that account. I use StrongED ans LineEditor and quite often as TaskWindow too - works perfectly. But I do agree the IYONIX pc still has the odd issue to sort out. As for MDs "developed their own RISC OS compatible chipset": Well they did develop some things along those lines whereas Castle opted for available chipsets. I do not think that this self-made chip set is by default superior to ones available on the market place which are refined all the time by teams of developers. And to take one example: the graphics being memory mapped in normal RAM (that is no dual ported video RAM as in a RiscPC) means that with increasing screen resolution/colour depth the bandwith remaing for the processor diminishes - benchmarks do prove that the odd operation is significantly faster in 800x600@256 opposed to 1600x1200@TrueColour. And unless MD manages to get some 32 bit RISC OS up and running I don't see them using faster ARM processors (until now I didn't see ARMTwister running and I read the odd statement from knowledgable programmers that makes it hard to believe that it will work - but I'd be deligted if it does work out and I don't say it can't be done).
hutchies 16/3/04 8:50PM	TBH I think that reliance on self-developed chipsets can in many cases actually be a bad thing. Though I'm not an expert in the field, FWIH Acorn's reliance on their own propriety graphics chips etc. actually stopped them from being able to benefit from new technology in PC graphics cards. Given the time it's taken Microdigital to develop this chipset, I wouldn't say much for their chances of being able to keep it up to date with the chipsets designed by the mainstream companies who spend billions on development.
knutson 16/3/04 9:43PM	It is nice to see that the Omega is still being worked on and features are being to appear. Midi is a good start and Ethernet is essential.
TonyStill 16/3/04 10:16PM	OK, come in number uid=33, your time is up. You know who you are, Moose. I suppose you think it's funny, registering on the Owners Club with your Iyonix (whatever that is).
JGZimmerle 16/3/04 10:21PM	The important thing is the Northbridge. Once ROL has added support for different graphics cards to RISC OS, MD could add an AGP port to their Northbridge. I can't see Intel adding an AGP port to their IOP range, because these are designed for things like storage controllers and network equipment. Such devices have no use for an AGP port. Do you realise how hard it is to find reasonably priced, modern PCI graphics cards these days? Guess why the Iyonix is still so expensive, while using standard components? We heavily rely on ARM processors, but none of the big players designs computer-chipsets for ARM processors. The 80200 appeared long before any other Xscale. The fact it is not available for the Omega yet, is that MD had to finish other parts of the computer first. Now that they have a fully working chipset, it should be relatively easy to change the CPU interface to support new CPUs as they appear. The comparison with Acorn is not really valid. Time has moved on and things have changed a lot in the chip industry. It is much easier to design custom chips these days than it was six years ago.
JGZimmerle 16/3/04 10:43PM	Sorry, I meant to write "The reason it is not available". I guess I should get some sleep. Good night. PS. @dgs: I have absolutely no axe to grind with the Iyonix. Why is that so hard to understand? I have told you this before. And it makes absolutely no difference to my argument, wether the non-working command was LMConnect or LMLogon. I am not saying that either the Iyonix or the Omega or VRPC or any other computer is especially suitable or totally unsuitable for everyone. All I am saying is, that the Iyonix is currently unsuitable for me and that the Omega is currently more suitable for me. Neither the Omega nor the Iyonix nor VRPC are suitable for everyone. Whoever says such a thing is a liar. If you think the Omega has damaged the RISC OS market, then consider this: I, along with my father and his whole company (around 50 employees) would have left RISC OS behind long ago, if it had not been for the Omega.
thegman 16/3/04 10:50PM	To JGZimmerle, I think the Iyonix is pricey (no more so than the Omega, I might add) is down to development costs offset against a relatively tiny number of sales (as has been discussed to death). I imagine the same applies to the Omega. I think the GeForce card in the Iyonix can be had for about £30 retail, so I would think Castle gets them a little cheaper, and they don't really represent much of the cost of an Iyonix. With regard to ROL adding support for extra graphics cards, as no machine exists which can run Select, and also accept third party graphics cards (with the exception of VF, now discontinued, and of course, already working, no need for ROL to step in), I doubt this will happen any time soon. I admire your optimism that MD will indeed ship an Xscale upgrade for the Omega, and maybe you have some inside knowledge that would give you cause to have such optimism, but I think you're on your own there. Having said all that, if MD can pull something out of the bag and ship a fully functional computer with concrete advantages, good luck to them, but again, I don't think they will. Cheers
timephoenix 17/3/04 4:58AM	Will the Omega's sound card have decent hardware MIDI synthesis? It would be extremely useful for musicians if it did (Sibelius?), and certainly enough to convince me to wait for an Omega instead of spending NZ$7000 on a non-MIDI Iyonix.
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