Someone asked me recently how to run the Expert 1.1 with DDX-3.0 floppy in OpenMSX, as I described in this post.

It is very simple actually, as the configuration of a proper machine is already included in the OpenMSX distribution. If you are curious, look for these files: machines/Gradiente_Expert_1.1/hardwareconfig.xml and extensions/DDX_3.0/hardwareconfig.xml.

All that remains to do is to find the correct ROMs and use the correct command line options. Finding the ROMs is quite easy: ask Google. Put the ROMs in ~/.openMSX/share/systemroms/. The final command line should be something like:

$ openmsx -machine Gradiente_Expert_1.1 -ext DDX_3.0

Posted at: 16:12 | Category: /virtualization | permalink

My VPS provider uses Xen and the distro images from Jailtime.org. Recently I installed a fresh Fedora Core 6 image (as they don't have a Fedora 7 image) and found a very subtle bug.

In the tweaks section of the FC6 image at Jailtime.org it is said:

To resolve tls issues, issued the following commands (*):
  # cp /lib/i686/nosegneg/lib* /lib/i686/
  # ldconfig

The problem with this hack is that when you upgrade your glibc, the copied files will remain and will conflict with the new updated files. This is not theoretical, right now if you download and run the image, then execute yum upgrade your VM is hosed. End result, segmentation faults all around and you VM won't boot anymore.

To avoid the problem, remove all files copied into /lib/i686:

# rm -f /lib/i686/libpthread* /lib/i686/libc* /lib/i686/libm* \
        /lib/i686/librt* /lib/i686/libthread_db*

The alternative to fix TLS problems is proposed on the Jailtime.org site itself:

An alternative to the tweak above is to use the following commands:
  # echo "hwcap 0 nosegneg" > /etc/ld.so.conf.d/libc6-xen.conf
  # ldconfig

But it came with the cryptic warning that "This alternative did not work in the jailtime image however". Well, it does work with the Jailtime.org image.

By the way, after this issue was solved, I was able not only to update FC6, but to upgrade to F7 using Yum. The only extra step necessary is to make sure in the newly installed /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit has the /sbin/start_udev line is commented out. Also, for some strange reason, the libgcc and libstdc++ packages have a higher version number in FC6 than in F7, so you will have to update these two by hand. Besides that, just follow this procedure.

Posted at: 13:47 | Category: /virtualization | permalink

If you are a Brazilian (or Russian) geek in your thirties you must have spend a lot of your teen years in front of a MSX computer.

For a long time I have kept copies of fMSX lying around in my hard disk, in case I want to play some of the memorable games of my childhood. Problem is, I was having a hard time compiling it in recent systems. When looking for a alternative, I investigated OpenMSX and instantly recognized I had found the holy grail of MSX emulation. OpenMSX does not emulate one MSX implementation, it implements all of them. It isn't just a matter of playing the games, you can really relive the hardware with it.

For example, I was able to boot a Gradiente Expert 1.1, with the DDX-3.0 floppy controller and a MegaRAM cartridge just like it was 1988. I'm really sorry now that I haven't managed to make images of all my floppies.

As an extra bonus, OpenMSX is very Linux friendly and very easy to build. So I created a RPM package of it for Fedora, instead of just installing in my home dir. I don't know if I will be able to properly maintain it, but if you are interested check the OpenMSX RPM link in the nav bar.

Posted at: 16:45 | Category: /virtualization | permalink