Maybe as a default (and a configurable) one...

Hey Prodatron, can you let me know what this decided on palette is... and is it interchangable with the cpc mode 0 palette, as it would be useful if they were near identical if possible. Already based my new movie conversion code on my generic cpc 16 colour palette.

Hi Trebmint, the palette was only an idea. It contains:
- 2 blues
- 3 reds
- 3 greens
- 2 yellows
- white, gray, black
- cyan and magenta
= 15 colours (0=transparent)
It sounds quite good and could be realized on the CPC, too.
But do you already have an universal 16 colour palette?

Quote:

Hi Trebmint, the palette was only an idea. It contains: - 2 blues - 3 reds - 3 greens - 2 yellows - white, gray, black - cyan and magenta = 15 colours (0=transparent) It sounds quite good and could be realized on the CPC, too. But do you already have an universal 16 colour palette?

Would be great if you define your custom palette compatible both on cpc & msx. Do not need to be the default one at power up.

Well... Using default MSX palette might give some very small advantage for porting software for SymbOS. There are tons of ways to make the palette. Here is one idea more:

%XBGR

X=Grayscale (bit 0-2 is brightness)
R = Red
G = Green
B = Blue

... this way the pallette would be also ANSI color compatible and you could use color 8 for black and 0 for transparent. Bad thing is, that you'll get also two white colors.

Here is a new version:
http://www.symbos.de/files/symbosmsx.zip

It now also includes SymShell, which is working in fullscreen and window mode. Unfortunately the text output in window mode is very slow currently because of the usage of an alternative font, which can't be pre-stored in the VRAM. Hope I can optimize it a little bit. You can switch between fullscreen and window mode with the "FULL" command or by pressing ALT+RETURN (graph=alt).

The only important missing thing for "SymbOS MSX" is the Toshiba FDC support needed for Panasonic and other machines. Then I can say, porting SymbOS to the MSX has been done But then there is still much to do for the 16 colour mode.

@Nyyrikki: That's also a good idea. The only problem of these standard palettes is, that many pictures look very ugly with them. I wonder, what Trebmint already choosed as his standard palette.

Prodatron: do you have a ChangeLog somewhere, so I can track what's different from the first versions?

Good idea Manuel

Woah!! It's AMAZING how FAST is the Symshell in full screen. In window mode it's much slower but still ok. Now I can run all the apps that I couldn't before. I'm far impressed. Issues found:

• SymAMP won't play songs propely in R800 mode. In Z80 works well (may be because is the very same SymAMP for CPC?)
• Shutdown functions (return to MSX-DOS or BASIC) don't work.
• Using the keyboard to move the mouse pointer is quite annoying, as it has low responsiveness. Using a mouse really enhances x1000 the experience. Maybe that the keyboard movement of the mouse could be improved a little?

Some screenshots taken just now:Nice looking, lightining fast as ever, true multitasking SymbOS
The lightining fast command line interface of SymbOS. You won't want to look back to the slowness of MSX-DOS again.

I'm really looking forward how this OS can look with a 16 color mode. Of course, Toshiba FDC goes first

GREAT WORK Prodatron!!!!

I'll give it a try ASAP! I'm getting really curious now!

@Karloch: I am glad that you like it and thanx for the issue report
- SymAmp in R800: To be honest I didn't test it yet (I still don't have the RGB->Sound cable to get sound out of my TurboR). I wonder, what problem it could be. I will try it in the emulator soon.
- Shutdown: Right, it doesn't work with the TurboR, only on my MSX2 machines. I will have a look at it.
- Mouse pointer control with the keyboard: Maybe it would be an idea to handle the arrow keys like a joystick. With the CODE key you can switch this on/off. This can improve it a lot.

@Manuel: I didn't write a changelog for the MSX version yet. But every new release will include a "what's new" section in the #readme file now. After releasing the first finished MSX version I will do better here.

Humm.... I want to back home in Thursday to test this new version

I updated the ZIP again:
http://www.symbos.de/files/symbosmsx.zip

The screensaver "Starfield Simulation" is included and works also on the MSX. Please replace the SYMBOS.* and APPCP*.* files, too, as there was a bug in the screensaver support in the last version.
On the TurboR you can choose 64 stars and speed 1, on a normal MSX2 you can stay with 32 stars and speed 2.

Now it's time to start with the Toshiba FDC support!

just jumping in here, dl-ed the zip and stored on my HD image for emulation...
crap, didn't work much. SymbOs booted but none of the apps started working.
If've got the whole on my 3rd partition (c:\).
tried
c:>symbos p3
but nada

(have read the .txt file, but not much there) I'm I forgetting something or just don't work on HD images? (didn't read the whole friggin' thread here...)

atleast it looks very okay! (and it booted fast, that's a promise...)

just curious. cheerio.ro