All times are GMT -6. The time now is Review of AmigaKit's Sam460ex Complete System
Posted 04-13-2011 at 08:45 AM by mpiva
Part 3.2 - The Software cont'd
“I’ve got to get myself some paint,” I said to myself. I needed to go online and start downloading some things to do on this Sam460ex. In the end I did end up spending the whole night on the computer but, unfortunately I wasn’t playing with it; I was fighting with it.
Configuring the network settings was simply a nightmare and the Quickstart guide only made it worse. In the OS4.1 drive is an “Internet” drawer with the programs “New Connection”, “Open Connection”, and “Edit Connection.” As per the Quickstart guide I tried the “New Connection” but could not get it to work. The wizard kept failing at various stages, sometimes complaining that the ppc460ex_eth.device could not find the required hardware, or that it wasn’t responding, or that there was a fault in the line (also spewing out some meaningless error codes into the console), and other times it would just completely freeze the computer, forcing me to reboot.
Trying to manually configure the connection was just as bad. Even when I’d specify a connection type that did not need authentication, I’d be asked for a username and password every time it tried to connect. Likewise, the “Test this configuration” button would give me random results. There were times the test would fail, I’d toggle a setting, the test would still fail, I’d toggle the setting back to what it was before without changing anything else, and suddenly the test would pass. However, even when the test passed, I’d still not have internet. Checking my router from another computer would confirm that there was not actually a connection. There were many times AmigaOS would appear to connect, or at least no error messages would come up, but still no connection was actually made.
There really needs to be a network status indicator to let the user know when the system is successfully connected to the network. I've since discovered there's a Dockie for this but it should be running by default... if it worked. Even now that I've got the network working, the Dockie sometimes reports that there is no connection even when there is one.
Finally, after reading through some Amiga forums, I discovered that there’s actually an “Internet” preferences program in the Prefs drawer. Now I was even more confused about what program to use. I gave up on the all those programs in the Internet drawer and played around with the Internet Prefs program. Here I finally began to make some headway. I still don’t fully understand why the settings need to be what I have set them to but at least it works. The problem was at least partially a result of my own paranoid security settings on my router. I’m sure if I had my router wide open, AmigaOS would have seen it fine, but with my security settings I had a devil of a time getting the router and Sam to play nice with each other. Still there’s no reason it should have been that difficult. My PCs, Wii, PS3, Xbox360, and even my PalmTX had an easier time connecting to my router with the same security settings. But at least now I have internet and the connection speed appears great.
During my hassles getting the internet to work, I also discovered another issue; my HP multimedia keyboard/hub doesn’t work. Actually, it works perfectly, except after booting. That’s the odd thing, UBoot recognizes the keyboard fine; I can interrupt UBoot, change the settings, and type into the console without any issues. After booting into AmigaOS, however, the keyboard is completely unresponsive. The two USB ports on the keyboard still work but the keyboard, itself, doesn’t. Fortunately, if I unplug the keyboard and plug it back in, it suddenly works again, flawlessly. In fact, I’ve been able to work around the unplug/replug solution by issuing a USBCtrl RESTART in my startup-sequence. This is fine for day-to-day use but if I need to boot without startup, I’m screwed. Hmm, maybe I should have bought AmigaKit’s Boingball Keyboard. On a positive note, all my other USB devices work wonderfully. AmigaOS immediately recognizes them when I plug them in and I haven't had any troubles with my USB drives (other than them only operating in USB1.1 mode).
So, now that I had internet and a working keyboard, I decided to try out IBrowse and OWB; both work well and are quick and responsive. I still think I prefer IBrowse. I’m not sure why people complain about it so much; most of the sites I go to don’t look that bad and are still usable. Maybe that’s because my workplace refuses to upgrade from Internet Explorer 6 so I’m used to half the web not working. But, that would have to do for the night. It was already past 1:00am.
I played a bit more with the Sam, on and off, for the rest of the week (bad week to be stuck working the late shift at work) and downloaded and tried out a few other programs. I’m writing a science-fiction novel so a word processor is very important to me. I managed to get FinalWriter 97 installed and working. It seems to work quite well, definitely runs faster than on my Amiga4000T. The only problem I have is the screen comes up strange. Despite setting it to use the same screenmode as Workbench, the right side of the screen wraps around to the left. Flipping screens fixes the display; it’s an annoying but a simple solution. I also tried out Abiword and was quite impressed. It was more responsive than I expected and would be totally usable if it didn’t crash every time I try loading my novel. I saved my novel as an RTF in FinalWriter and tried importing it into Abiword. It appears to make it to about page 66 (out of 497) and then Abiword freezes. I’m going to have to try it on some other large files to see if it’s just that specific file it doesn’t like or all large documents. Overall though, AmiCygnix is great alternative to fully native programs.
Next up was the Timberwolf Alpha. Looks good, a little on the slow side, and obviously an Alpha based on how many menu options don’t do anything but it never crashed on me. I’ll definitely be looking forward to using it when the new version comes out based on Firefox 4.
I won’t waste your time on all the apps I tried out (this review has already become exceedingly long) but, needless to say, without audio or 3D you start to run out of software to play with rather quick. I sure hope those drivers come soon. I did really like AmiUpdate and wish it came standard with the OS. It would be even better if it could be expanded into a full App Browser/Autoinstaller. What I miss most from my A4000T, though, is DOpus Magellan. I already knew it wouldn’t work but I had to try running it anyway and, sure enough, it crashed. Filer is handy to get that instant lister upon double-clicking the screen and it does look nice but it’s just not nearly as functional or easy to use.
So, was it worth it? Stay tuned for Part 4 where I'll compile all of this into a short, concise summary with an unquestionable conclusion. Yah, right. Who am I kidding? I'll do my best to answer the question as best I can, keeping in mind this is after only a very short time of using the system and is all very subjective.
“I’ve got to get myself some paint,” I said to myself. I needed to go online and start downloading some things to do on this Sam460ex. In the end I did end up spending the whole night on the computer but, unfortunately I wasn’t playing with it; I was fighting with it.
Configuring the network settings was simply a nightmare and the Quickstart guide only made it worse. In the OS4.1 drive is an “Internet” drawer with the programs “New Connection”, “Open Connection”, and “Edit Connection.” As per the Quickstart guide I tried the “New Connection” but could not get it to work. The wizard kept failing at various stages, sometimes complaining that the ppc460ex_eth.device could not find the required hardware, or that it wasn’t responding, or that there was a fault in the line (also spewing out some meaningless error codes into the console), and other times it would just completely freeze the computer, forcing me to reboot.
Trying to manually configure the connection was just as bad. Even when I’d specify a connection type that did not need authentication, I’d be asked for a username and password every time it tried to connect. Likewise, the “Test this configuration” button would give me random results. There were times the test would fail, I’d toggle a setting, the test would still fail, I’d toggle the setting back to what it was before without changing anything else, and suddenly the test would pass. However, even when the test passed, I’d still not have internet. Checking my router from another computer would confirm that there was not actually a connection. There were many times AmigaOS would appear to connect, or at least no error messages would come up, but still no connection was actually made.
There really needs to be a network status indicator to let the user know when the system is successfully connected to the network. I've since discovered there's a Dockie for this but it should be running by default... if it worked. Even now that I've got the network working, the Dockie sometimes reports that there is no connection even when there is one.
Finally, after reading through some Amiga forums, I discovered that there’s actually an “Internet” preferences program in the Prefs drawer. Now I was even more confused about what program to use. I gave up on the all those programs in the Internet drawer and played around with the Internet Prefs program. Here I finally began to make some headway. I still don’t fully understand why the settings need to be what I have set them to but at least it works. The problem was at least partially a result of my own paranoid security settings on my router. I’m sure if I had my router wide open, AmigaOS would have seen it fine, but with my security settings I had a devil of a time getting the router and Sam to play nice with each other. Still there’s no reason it should have been that difficult. My PCs, Wii, PS3, Xbox360, and even my PalmTX had an easier time connecting to my router with the same security settings. But at least now I have internet and the connection speed appears great.
During my hassles getting the internet to work, I also discovered another issue; my HP multimedia keyboard/hub doesn’t work. Actually, it works perfectly, except after booting. That’s the odd thing, UBoot recognizes the keyboard fine; I can interrupt UBoot, change the settings, and type into the console without any issues. After booting into AmigaOS, however, the keyboard is completely unresponsive. The two USB ports on the keyboard still work but the keyboard, itself, doesn’t. Fortunately, if I unplug the keyboard and plug it back in, it suddenly works again, flawlessly. In fact, I’ve been able to work around the unplug/replug solution by issuing a USBCtrl RESTART in my startup-sequence. This is fine for day-to-day use but if I need to boot without startup, I’m screwed. Hmm, maybe I should have bought AmigaKit’s Boingball Keyboard. On a positive note, all my other USB devices work wonderfully. AmigaOS immediately recognizes them when I plug them in and I haven't had any troubles with my USB drives (other than them only operating in USB1.1 mode).
So, now that I had internet and a working keyboard, I decided to try out IBrowse and OWB; both work well and are quick and responsive. I still think I prefer IBrowse. I’m not sure why people complain about it so much; most of the sites I go to don’t look that bad and are still usable. Maybe that’s because my workplace refuses to upgrade from Internet Explorer 6 so I’m used to half the web not working. But, that would have to do for the night. It was already past 1:00am.
I played a bit more with the Sam, on and off, for the rest of the week (bad week to be stuck working the late shift at work) and downloaded and tried out a few other programs. I’m writing a science-fiction novel so a word processor is very important to me. I managed to get FinalWriter 97 installed and working. It seems to work quite well, definitely runs faster than on my Amiga4000T. The only problem I have is the screen comes up strange. Despite setting it to use the same screenmode as Workbench, the right side of the screen wraps around to the left. Flipping screens fixes the display; it’s an annoying but a simple solution. I also tried out Abiword and was quite impressed. It was more responsive than I expected and would be totally usable if it didn’t crash every time I try loading my novel. I saved my novel as an RTF in FinalWriter and tried importing it into Abiword. It appears to make it to about page 66 (out of 497) and then Abiword freezes. I’m going to have to try it on some other large files to see if it’s just that specific file it doesn’t like or all large documents. Overall though, AmiCygnix is great alternative to fully native programs.
Next up was the Timberwolf Alpha. Looks good, a little on the slow side, and obviously an Alpha based on how many menu options don’t do anything but it never crashed on me. I’ll definitely be looking forward to using it when the new version comes out based on Firefox 4.
I won’t waste your time on all the apps I tried out (this review has already become exceedingly long) but, needless to say, without audio or 3D you start to run out of software to play with rather quick. I sure hope those drivers come soon. I did really like AmiUpdate and wish it came standard with the OS. It would be even better if it could be expanded into a full App Browser/Autoinstaller. What I miss most from my A4000T, though, is DOpus Magellan. I already knew it wouldn’t work but I had to try running it anyway and, sure enough, it crashed. Filer is handy to get that instant lister upon double-clicking the screen and it does look nice but it’s just not nearly as functional or easy to use.
So, was it worth it? Stay tuned for Part 4 where I'll compile all of this into a short, concise summary with an unquestionable conclusion. Yah, right. Who am I kidding? I'll do my best to answer the question as best I can, keeping in mind this is after only a very short time of using the system and is all very subjective.
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