X-Amiga beta release is available now!

Hmmm, seems to be a few issues...

Won't have chance to test this myself anytime soon, but reading through the site and looking at the size of the ISO it can't have a Workbench (like AmigaSYS, AmiKit, ClassicWB etc) environment included, so I wonder what exactly does it boot into once installed?

Is it just a light Linux install that has a Workbench theme, with EUAE available for use? Or will it boot or can be made to boot directly into a EUAE environment without user intervention, like I initially thought?

I'll have to do some more research to find out.

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That is actually exactly what I need to know.

The point I've reached in the installation and setup of X-Amiga is that I've gone through the whole setup process, added the Amiga files (kickstart roms), and then it asks if I would like to load any existing OS setups into the installation, and then any adf file images. I skipped both of those steps without doing anything to see what the default package would do, and the installation said it was complete. I therefore reset the system and it booted to a completely blank screen with a cursor in the corner, but it wasn't flashing and I couldn't do anything.

So does this mean we have to setup and load our own Workbench environment while we are installed X-Amiga? I'm now at a lose.

There definitely needs to be more detail in the installation guide too as it is very vague. At the moment I don't thing many people would even get to the installer if they haven't used a commandline or Linux before.
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I try to install in VMPlayer (virtual machine):

After installation, he said it was ok, i wass not able to do nothing.... the same screen as before instalation, and if i reboot, linux just say that i dont have a Operating system.

He said before install that i must format hd in mode 83.... ?! What is mode 83????
I try to format in many different ways... ext2/ext3/ntfs/ all of them the result was the same....

Harrison was it same with you?
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Yes, very similar to what happened when I tried.

But I used the CLI installer rather than the GUI installer because when I tried that it didn't start the installation. With the CLI installer it lets me partition the virtual HD, then it installs the system files, and finally asks me for a CD or USB drive with the kickstart files on. It then says the installation has finished. So I then rebooted but I just get a blank screen as though there isn't anything installed on the HD, although the virtual machine doesn't show the NO SYSTEM DISK error so I think GRUB must have installed correctly, but it can't find a Linux OS to boot.

As for the mode 83, if you try the installation from the CLI (type "xa-installer" to start it), when you get to the partition HD step it allows you to pick a file system to format the HD. Mode 83 is one of the options found within the listed options.

Not sure what else to try. Maybe we need to wait until the developer is back (he said he will be away for a week) and then we can ask for advice and help.
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I will try to install from CLI to see what happends....
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Amir Ansari (Fractallyte) just posted this in order to better explain X-Amiga.

It works exactly as I hoped, so I'm really supportive of this project moving forward. Hopefully now the beta is out, he'll have a chance to tackle the install issues.

Originally Posted by :
My first post - I can't resist clarifying a few things...

X-Amiga is a custom Linux, built from scratch - not a repackaged or cut-down distro. I mention Gentoo in the 'About' page because that's what I used to build it! However, apart from the kernel, nothing else is inherited from that distribution.

It's as 'un-bloated' as possible. ~40MB may seem excessive, but half of that is taken up by the kernel, some by the splash graphics and the rest by mostly essential packages. It has networking, CPU frequency adjustment, USB access, security... Not too bad. I still intend to cut it down further!

A large kernel has no impact on speed. Very few services are started up, and the kernel itself is optimised for running one program well (E-UAE).

The one screenshot I've posted on the site is of the installer. It's just Linux, on a bootable CD. The window manager is called AmiWM - it mimics the look and feel of the Amiga. There's also an OS1.x mouse pointer theme. The shell is just a customised ATerm, and the familiar-looking file manager is Worker, a DOpus clone. No emulation is used here, it's all just Linux.

The installer (a GTK dialog script) copies a suite of packages to the destination, together with the kernel and some scripts. And E-UAE, of course. Again, this part is all Linux. The only Amiga files to be copied are your legally-acquired ROM(s), and a pre-installed operating system (whichever one you want to use: from 1.x to 3.x).

It won't overwrite any existing data partitions unless you tell it to! I was extremely careful about this. The summary screen warns which partitions will be deleted; the user has an opportunity to change the destination or abort installation, and only at the end - when pressing the 'Install' button - do the changes become irrevocable.

I suppose X-Amiga could be considered a Linux distro in its own right. In any case, all the installed packages exist only as infrastructure for E-UAE. And while E-UAE might not be as far along as WinUAE, it runs on an Open Source operating system: Linux. That's good enough.

The main reason in creating this was to provide as seamless an 'Amiga experience' as possible. So there's no scrolling text, no configuration screens, no icons to click-to-start. It boots as rapidly as it can into a genuine Amiga workbench. When you exit, it shuts down the computer.

I know Amithlon is better. I can claim only that X-Amiga is also a good solution. Naturally, I'd welcome technical input from users. I'm documenting everything; it's all wide open to peruse and hack!

Anyway, I'd better get back to updating it... Sorry about the boot problems!

Amir

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Yep, he emailed me to thank classicamiga for our support of the project and to let me know that he is now working on all the reported bugs. So good news.

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Did he saw this post?
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No, I emailed him offering our support for the project, and also posted a news article on the main site which he saw.
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