By the way, does somebody know what it needs to run GEOS programs off a floppy ?
I mean, is it enough to copy a *.Geo file somewhere to the floppy or is it required to store it in a special folder structure ?
And are special fonts or libraries required ?

Depends on the program. The programs from the TVA Katter archive should run without issues. Other programs will need supporting file such as the help files that are kept in a particular directory. The program will moan if it needs extra files.

Thanks! Do you know of a simple program that runs on GEOS 1.x or 2.x ?
It can be anything, the simpler the better. 😀

Edit: In essence, I only like to test if the StarWriter's GEOS
will execute external programs that aren't stored inside the ROM..
Once that works, I'll do further testing. 😀

Geos 1.* programs wont load at all but docs created by them may be uploaded but converted to geos2 format. Here's a link with some small programs. Try the 2/3 ones and maybe 4. http://www.geos-infobase.de/DOWNLOAD.HTM#GEOS Like under the Spiele section. There is a couple of games there.

Thanks!

Quick update - I tried the games so far.

Blockout (BLOCKOUT.GEO) was the closest to work.

The others complained about missing system files (which ?)
or were too large to fit on a single floppy (Blockgame, for example).

Could it be that the homebrew programs were written in R-Basic / NBasic ?
If so, I guess I have to find out how to copy the BASIC runtime to the floppy.

Edit: I also tried some utilities. The only two program thats worked were "Webmagik" and "Eurokonverter 2.0".
Well, their installers, installd.geo/webminst.geo, at least. Their icons were also shown correctly.

Also, when deleting the program files, it warned about them being "PC GEOS" files.
So now we do at least know that this thing is indeed running some form of PC GEOS! 😀

Edit: Pictures added.
Edit: Picture with the deletion warning added.

Update.

There's a program called "Universal Installer" which seems to run.
- Could it be that the other programs with the .00x suffix do need it ?

If so, it could be tricky to run programs on the StarWriter.
There's no hard disk space I could install these programs to. 🙁

Edit: Pictures of Uni Installer added.
The error message appeared after "installing" a text editor and clicking "File" in the menu.

*.00* files are support files or documents. As you mentioned above *.geo files are actual programs designed to run on PCGeos.

It should be mentioned IBM had software based on PCGeos called EduQuest SchoolView. https://sites.google.com/site/iclasschoolview … schoolview-plus

Cool, looks really neat! I've also "video documented" my tries in the mean time.. https://youtu.be/PvclU59d-mo
Once I figure out how to transfer/run the programs without installation (maybe installing on a real GEOS first), I'll contiune testing. 😀

Was going through my floppy stash and came across a disk of files I used to add to GeoWorks 2.* Files came from the original TVA Katter web site and other sites I found scouring the interweb using dailup back in '98 or so. Might be useful. Its a disk image of a 1.4meg disk so you'll need RewWright to create the disk once you unpack it. Looks like I picked up quite a few fonts for Geos over the years as well. As I have two 1.4meg disks worth by the looks. If you want them just sing out. They were freely available from on old Yahoo PC Geos group iirc.

Sure! Sounds interesting. I'll try the attachment next night (temperatures are really high in my place currently). 😅

Ok here you go:

Just put the *.exe in the c:\geos\fonts directory, run it to extract the font files and delete the *.exe file. Fonts will then be available for all applications. Haven't tested it but they may even be able to be used in PC Geos 1.*

Jo22 wrote on 2019-06-15, 04:11:

Thanks! The machine is basically a little 286 computer with 512KiB RAM, VGA, floppy drive and printer..
Memory consist of two sourface mounted chips; they could be replaced by some of bigger capacity.
If it only had F-keys, though. In theory, if it has a PC compatible BIOS, it could run games like Monkey Island, Keen or Jill of Jungle.

Hi, Jo. Stumbled across this thread surfing the web. I'm a longtime user of the Starwriter X000 series machines myself, and I don't think it's a very big club!

I have done full refurbs on these machines before and would be happy to share information. You can email me at starwriterpro *at* speedymail #dot# org anytime.

@Caluser2000 Thanks a lot! 😎👍

trylunsghost wrote on 2022-02-06, 03:01:

Jo22 wrote on 2019-06-15, 04:11:

Thanks! The machine is basically a little 286 computer with 512KiB RAM, VGA, floppy drive and printer..
Memory consist of two sourface mounted chips; they could be replaced by some of bigger capacity.
If it only had F-keys, though. In theory, if it has a PC compatible BIOS, it could run games like Monkey Island, Keen or Jill of Jungle.

Hi, Jo. Stumbled across this thread surfing the web. I'm a longtime user of the Starwriter X000 series machines myself, and I don't think it's a very big club!

I have done full refurbs on these machines before and would be happy to share information. You can email me at starwriterpro *at* speedymail #dot# org anytime.

Hi there! Thank you for browsing by and writing back! ^^
I feel happy to be part of this small and exclusive club, too!

I would like to learn more about your refurbs, also!
Just a week ago, I thought of the StarWriter and played with the idea to write some applications for it that need no installation.

What I wonder the most at the moment - can a serial port be installed?
I'm skilled enough to try doing that without damaging the StarWriter, I think.
- A few years ago, I added an SMD UART chip to another PC.
Having a COM port would be nice for several reasons. Mouse, nullmodem, controlling homebrew devices. 😃

Mail sent. 😀