ReadMe.txt

Jan. 15,2008 Vladimir Antunovic

ANTOS-OS Blue Collar v0.95 Beta

WARNING: This CD is bootable.

WARNING: This RTOS should not be experimented with on your only or main system.

See the web-site at www.antos-os.ca for extra documentation.

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1.0 Description

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The Blue Collar OS is a multi-tasking 32-bit protected mode OS with a preemptive scheduler. It was originally designed for x86-based embedded controllers residing on COTS, PC-104 and AT platforms, but it can just as well be used in desktops and laptops.

After the BIOS loads the OS and passes control to it, the BIOS is never accessed again. Since a BIOS is not required by Blue Collar, it would be possible to flash the boot ROM with the OS and some custom start-up code, and run without any storage device at all.

The current version, "0.95", is a Beta release, and lacks paging, CD support, USB support, mouse handling, network support and a TCP/IP stack. These can be added for customers who require them.

It comes with it's own partitioning and formatting software to build a bootable FAT32 partition. The MBR can boot a partition beyond the 8 Gig boundary without Int 13h extensions thus allowing older installed devices to utilize newer drives.

The library provides routines for reading and writing raw sectors which would allow a user to write his own custom filing system if desired.

In it's current form, it can be used for embedded controllers, especially those running on batteries or solar power. The prime direction the system has taken is to use as few CPU cycles as possible for any given function and thus is ideally suited to portable-power installations.

The system contains a resident hot-swappable linker which means controllers do not need to be re-booted when updating OS modules.

There is no distinction between drivers and apps as both are loaded as standard relocatable PE modules. Since the "C" library is also resident, ".EXE"'s tend to be very small. This allows apps and drivers to be updated over satellite or radio links at low cost.

Batchfiles are supplied for "VC++ 6.0" program development. The generated object modules are simply linked with the Blue Collar library and then loaded to the system.

Files are loaded via the serial ports, with the YMODEM protocol. The YMODEM "initial remainder" is set to 0 by default as that is the value used by HyperTerm. This can be overridden by the user and set to any value. File transfers can be initiated via the serial ports.

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2.0 Formatting The Hard Disk

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To format a NON-BOOTABLE FAT32 file partition on the Primary/Master IDE device, use the "FORMAT" command as per the following example.

e.g. "FORMAT /s8 /da /p1 /f63 /t8192" where "/s" is the option for setting sectors per cluster while "/f" defines the first sector of the partition, "/t" determines the total size of the partition in sectors and "/p" determines the partition.

To format a BOOTABLE FAT32 file partition, use the "FORMAT_AND_INST" command. It has the same parameters as FORMAT but will also install the Master Boot Record for the disk as well as the boot record and loader for the FAT32 partition. It should be possible to boot a partition beyond 8Gig without requiring Int13 extensions. This would allow older legacy systems to use newer drives.

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To see a list of available commands after the RTOS is installed, type "menu" at the prompt.

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3.0 Building The Examples

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1) Copy the "BlueCollar_095" directory and all its subdirectories and files to your preferred hard drive and directory.

2) Make the "BlueCollar_095\Examples" directory your current directory.

3) At the prompt, type, "bldexe hellow hellow hellow.exe", to build the "HelloW" executable. The executable will be placed in the current directory. The other projects can be built in the same manner by replacing the appropriate text.

4) You will see the following linker errors on a successful build:

LINK : warning LNK4108: /ALIGN specified without /DRIVER or /VXD; image may not run

LINK : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol _NtProcessStartup

testtask.exe : warning LNK4088: image being generated due to /FORCE option; image may not run

Ignore these errors.

5) To make your own project, copy all the files to a new subdirectory and rename the ".cpp" to a name of your choice.

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4.0 File Transfer

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1) If you are connecting directly to another PC, (DCE), make sure you use a NULL MODEM cable.

2) Set HyperTerm to 115.200 KBaud, no parity, and 1 stop bit. Turn off both hardware and software flow control. Depending on the length of the cable, you may have to lower the baud rate.

To change the baud rate, type "comms /bbaudrate /h0", where baudrate is a decimal value up to 115200. Use "/h0" for COM1 and "/h1" for COM2.

3) In "Properties/ASCII Setup", check

"Send line ends with line feeds"

"Echo typed characters locally".

4) Press the "enter" key on the HyperTerm computer a few times. You should see a "C:>" prompt.

------ 4.1 Downloading A File With HyperTerm

5) On the HyperTerm computer, type, "dnld /h0 /s30000". The parameter, "/h0", selects COM1 on the Blue Collar system. Use "/h1", for COM2. "/s30000", starts a delay of 30 seconds, (30,000 millisecs), before the transfer starts. If you don't enter any value at all, the default is a 15 second delay.

6) Quickly select HyperTerm's "Transfer/Send File..." menu item and enter the pathname of the file to transfer.

7) The transfer will start after the delay timer expires.

------- 4.2 Uploading A File With HyperTerm

5) On the HyperTerm computer, type, "host /h0 /ffilename", where "filename" is the name of the file to upload. The parameter, "/h0", selects COM1 on the Blue Collar system. Use "/h1", for COM2.

6) Select HyperTerm's "Transfer/Receive File..." menu item.

7) To start the transfer, click on "Receive" in the dialog box.