Acorn Computers FTP

RISC OS 3.6/3.7 ROM Patch 2.02 - 4th March 1997

This release of ROMPatches fixes some problems with RISC OS 3.60 and with 3.70. It supersedes ROMPatch 2.01 for RISC OS 3.70 (and provides additional patches).

Purpose of patches

The problems fixed are briefly as follows:

RISC OS 3.7

  • Slow printing to some HP printers on parallel port. (Same as ROMPatch 2.01)
  • Occasional "No stack for trap handler" on some StrongARMs (SA110, revision less than 3). (Same as ROMPatch 2.01; see TechNote for advice for code developers.)
  • Errors from some applications using several in-memory transfers (SWI Wimp_TransferBlock) in succession.
  • Crashes for very large in-memory transfers between applications.
  • Failure of in-memory transfer if the transfer involves a dynamic area at a high address.
  • System centisecond timing reference and system clock can run a few percent fast or slow for periods of about an hour.

RISC OS 3.6

  • Crashes for very large in-memory transfers between applications.
  • Failure of in-memory transfer if the transfer involves a dynamic area at a high address.
  • Floppy discs cannot be formatted if the hard disc is locked.

Installing patches for RISC OS 3.60

If you have any third party patches, remove them from your !Boot first (see compatibility section, below).

If you have used any previous form of Acorn ROM patching for RISC OS 3.60, remove it from your !Boot first.

The patches are easily installed by copying the supplied Obey file !!ROMPatch and the supplied directory (with contents) ROMPatch into your:

   !Boot.Choices.Boot.Tasks

directory. To do this, open !Boot by holding down the Shift key while double-clicking on !Boot. Next, double-click to open Choices, then Boot, then Tasks. Now drag !!ROMPatch and ROMPatch into Tasks.

Finally, restart your machine to activate the patches. You will notice a new dynamic area 'ROM patches 3.60/1' in the task bar display, if you click on the Acorn iconbar icon.

Installing patches for RISC OS 3.70 or Universal !Boot Sequence

If you have any third party patches, remove them from your !Boot first (see compatibility section, below).

The patches are easily installed by copying the supplied Obey file !!ROMPatch and the supplied directory (with contents) ROMPatch into your

   !Boot.Choices.Boot.PreDesk

directory. To do this, open !Boot by holding down the Shift key while double-clicking on !Boot. Next, double-click to open Choices, then Boot, then Predesk. Now drag !!ROMPatch and ROMPatch into Predesk.

If you have used the previous release of ROMPatch (2.01), this will update it.

Finally, restart your machine to activate the patches. You will notice a new dynamic area 'ROM patches 3.70/2' in the task bar display, if you click on the Acorn iconbar icon.

Compatibilty with third party patches

ROMPatch may not be compatible with third party patches (eg. to add desktop features). We recommend that you remove them from your !Boot structure at least to test installation of ROMPatch.

You may then wish to try reinstalling them, and check behaviour again.

The most likely incompatibility is caused by modules being copied out of the ROM (eg. RMFaster). This can either disable or scramble any bug fix by ROMPatch in that module, depending on the order of running the patches.

In general, RMFaster, or any module copying from ROM may cause problems with a patched ROM.

Acorn Computers Ltd 1997
 
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