Hi All,

I've finally taken the plunge and ordered a key for MorphOS this evening to install on my Mac Mini G4 1.5Ghz. I've just finished renovating it, maxing out the RAM, installing a new 256Gb mSATA SSD in a caddy, cleaning it out and re-pasting the CPU. I installed MorphOS intially to check I'd wired the Wi-Fi and BT up the correct way round, as I'd forgotten to make a note of which one went where, but for a 50/50 shot, I got it right for a change, which was nice.

It's currently running stripped of its outer case, as I've left that off while I renovate the Perspex lid, which was scratched up by the previous owner and the passage of time. I took my orbital sander to it once I'd pulled it from the aluminium housing, and am now waiting for a delivery of finer grit disks before I can restore it back to a nice shiny state. Once that's done, I'll clip it all back together and call it done.

My interest started with the ZX81 and C64, moving to the Amiga 500 and Atari ST while I was a graphics artist doing almost a dozen games for a couple of companies with a coder running our own business together. I eventually left the industry and ended up teaching myself to use a PC, learning to build them and set them up, which I still do when the mood takes me. Sadly, I've forgotten most of my Amiga knowledge though, which is a shame, but I'm trying to push myself to re-learn it all before my brain becomes too addled to learn.

The short version is it's going to take me a while to get up to speed with MorphOS, so I'll be asking all manner of simple questions while I learn how these things work. Should be fun though, as I enjoy learning new stuff. I just wish I could remember them for more than about 20 minutes though! :)

Does this forum software have emojis? I run a forum on a non-computer subject myself, but I can't seem to find them right now, despite some concentrated staring at the page.

Mike.

It is always nice to see these G4's and G5's get fixed up and running again. I am just over a year in or so and there is always something new to learn or tinker with on MorphOS.

This forum (and the LIBRARY) link up there ^^^ are great places to search for info on Morph. Discord is where the live chat is really at lately. If you are interested in that, there is an invitation link posted here on MorphZone that will lead you to Discord. It is a love / hate thing with all these bloated + fluffy comm platforms but it is also a great way to chat with active users and developers.

As for emojees.... : D

-EvX

Ähmohschies?

This ain’t MacRumors.

What gave it away, was it the URL? :o

So. Where can I find some simple instructions for a n00b to get going on MorphOS? I've read a few of the titbits so far, but haven't found them all, I'm sure, as I still don't have a clue what I'm doing.

I really miss modern emojis, although I hate calling them that name. They were emoticons when I were a lad! :oldgit:

Mike.

Are you using MorphOS to get on this forum?

In no particular order:

MorphOS Library - Check out the TUTORIALS links on the main page! That is the best way to get around the system a bit.

Applications/ Wayfarer, Iris, MPlayer

On Wayfarer, visit MorphOS Storage MorphOS Storage and look at all the software you can install. One nice software (written by Papiosaur) that you should find is "Easy To Install". It browses MorphOS Storage and maintains a list of available and installed programs on your machine.

Papiosaur has written IPP-Print and it is available on MorphOS Storage. You can print to modern printers without all the setup hassle for vintage supported printers. He has a scanner utility and LOTS of other nice productive software for Morph that will make your mini quite useable.

Bluepill is a Discord client that will give you access to modern chat on your mini.

MTerm is a BBS utitlity that is really nice if you are into that scene.

You can tailor RSS readers to get news from feeds you choose.

You can make your own ICONS which is fun!

Aminet.net also has lots of programs for Morph likeTwinVNC0.8beta if you want to VNC to another computer (which is nice for stuff like Samba file sharing or modern web browsing from your Mini).

I liked the command line help tool "Chelp". It needs an internet connection to work typically, but you can explore shell commands you may find valuable. I use WakeOnLAN to wake up my linux box for VNC / Samba shares by tossing the wakeonlan command in my network-startup file.

Snoopium is a tool that you can use to monitor program activity in the background.

The SDK is nice if you want to tool around with programming.

SDL will help with some modern software implementation. (It will likely be a software requirement for something you eventually run).

Games! If you have the 64MB graphics memory, have at it! Settlers2 is pretty cool but it costs a bit of money.

MorphUAE will get you into the world of emulating any amiga games and programs that Morphos doesn't have the "chips" the original Amiga hardware had.

There is a ton more to list, but those are some of the things I have done recently. (besides collect powermacs to restore and put MorphOS on : )

-EvX

Thanks @EvX that's much appreciated. :)

I'm a total novice with MOS, and as I mentioned, I've almost forgotten everything that I used to know about the Amiga, so I'm starting again from scratch.

I've been tooling around the various pages on here, and I've noticed that a lot of links are now dead, and the last edit date on many of the Help pages are as far back as 2009, which is a bit off-putting from an outsider's POV, especially as the software has been progressing substantially since then, which begs the question "how much of what I'm reading is even relevant any more?". That's not meant as a complaint, more of an incitement to hold the hand of the novice a little better, as that's the only way you're going to entice more people away from the triumvirate of Windows, Linux and MacOS.

As a total aside, I'm going to have to find a better "bench" for my Mini, as it's on a low coffee table at the moment with an Apple wired kbd, so wrecks my neck and back whenever I use it, which leads me to use my Mint MacBook to access the forums at the moment. I've got my eye on a convertible table, but I need to check the size and weight limits. I have an old PowerMac G5 parked next to it with a matching LED screen on the table, so it needs to be sturdy, as those things are weighty :)

I had a hoovering session of games last night, and noticed SDL mentioned in several of the read me files, so I'll have to do some searching and fiddling with other software if I want to game myself silly. As long as I have Asteroids and Doom on it though, I'll usually be happy. :D

Mike.