Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

If it doesn't fit anywhere else, drop it in here. (not to be used as a chat/nonsense section)

Moderator: Moderator Team

Post Reply
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

I no longer refer to Katrora as "the rig"—she is an operational PC. The only real annoyance is that I have to shut her down before I can remove a USB device; otherwise, the install becomes bricked (she becomes trapped in a POST screen booting loop).

I decided to take some photos of Katrora's tower with my Pentax X-5, then plug the camera into Katrora, do some minor editing of the images (in Irfanview), jiffy them over to Shellbone (Win7) in a USB stick, and then post them online. So, I mounted the camera on its tripod, set the shutter on a two-second delay, and began clicking away using different exposure times.

I booted Katrora (she only boots in debug).
I took some photos of the Pentax with my old Samsung GSM flip-phone and then plugged it into Katrora. The phone was trying to connect but couldn't. When it wanted to install some software, I decided to let it (hoping it would then connect). In the event, the driver wasn't found. Shut down and unplug.
So, I took some photos with my Aspera 3G flip-phone and plugged it in. No luck. Shut down and unplug. I would have to retrieve those shots in Shellbone.

Reboot.
I plugged the Pentax into Katrora and first looked at the thumbnails in Irfanview Thumbnails. I could see right away that some of the shots were underexposed, so I deleted them within Irfanview. I then copied the good photos into Katrora (Local Disk / # Stuff General). Shut down and unplug.

Now came a wacky glitch. For some reason, she now refused to boot—freezing at the HIDUSB thingy. Button-hold shut-down. Try booting again. Same problem.
So, I plugged the Pentax in before booting. Perfect. Shut down and unplug.
Boot again. Freezes at HIDUSB. Button-hold shut-down.
Next, I plugged a USB stick into the same socket that the camera was in, and booted. Perfect. Shut down and unplug.
Boot again. Freezes again. Button-hold shut-down.

I began wondering, "During boot, is she trying to resolve an issue with that particular port?"
So, I unplugged the mouse from its USB port and plugged it into the port through which I had run the phones and camera.
Boot again. Problem fixed.

The Aspera needed a charge-up, so I plugged it in again, this time using a power-only ("dumb USB") cable.
Then it was time to begin the photo editing.
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

Here are the images as edited in Irfanview in Katrora.

This is "the corner". All monitors are Dell P1914S 5×4 (1280×1024), all running digitally.
Editing: I halved the resolution, and inserted some text.
[ external image ]
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

This is my Pentax X-5 plugged into one of my USB desk-sockets for Katrora. I took this photo with my old Samsung GSM flip-phone and retrieve the image into Shellbone.
[ external image ]
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

I bought this case/mobo/CPU second-hand eighteen months ago. The Samsung DVD burner is pata.
Editing: I cropped the image, halved the resolution, and inserted some text.
[ external image ]
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

The molex plug in the centre of the image (two yellows and two reds) is power for the two case fans (front and side). 12V+ is positive, 5V+ is negative, = 7 volts. Molex yellow to fan's red. Molex red to fan's black (via 3-pin male connector). At this voltage, the Fractal R3 3-pin fans (80, 92, and 120mm) run very quietly but still move enough air. She is a very quiet tower. Antec PSU built by Seasonic. Crucial M4 SSD at the bottom.
Editing: I halved the resolution.
[ external image ]
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
User avatar
dizt3mp3r
Posts: 1874
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:54 pm

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by dizt3mp3r »

Keep it going, good to see. If I were you I'd put my machine specs into my signature for all to see on all your posts.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

This is my lashed-together side-fan assembly. It gently blows cool air directly onto the CPU cooler. Spacing block is from an old Ceramica fan.
Editing: I joined the two images, and then quartered the resolution by halving it twice.
[ external image ]
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

After the editing in Katrora (which all happened very quickly), I jiffied the images over to Shellbone.
Katrora is letting me click-and-drag files from folder-to-folder really quickly in Explorer—but only if I do it one file at a time. Conversely, I can do a group copy-and-paste, then come back and delete. Gets the job done. In Irfanview Thumbnails, I can also click-and-drag images with no problems.

By this time, I was thinking, "this is the sort of reliability a person should pay for."
So I made a financial contribution to the effort.
To the ReactOS team, I say thank you for this quirky little operating system and I look forward to improvements to the USB.
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

dizt3mp3r wrote:Keep it going, good to see. If I were you I'd put my machine specs into my signature for all to see on all your posts.
Thanks for the encouragement. I take it the signature will go in to everything retrospectively?
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
User avatar
cernodile
Posts: 59
Joined: Wed Nov 01, 2017 7:01 pm
Location: Estonia
Contact:

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by cernodile »

Quite entertaining to read and see your success story with ReactOS on real hardware. I think you're doing a fantastic job by showcasing ReactOS's power outside virtual machines alongside showcasing quirks of it.
My working rigs:
Dell Latitude E5430 on 0.4.9-vgal - i5-3340M, USB boot.
Partially working rigs:
Ryzen 7 3700X on B450 board - 0.4.14 boot via preinstall. USB broken.
[ external image ]
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

Thanks for your nice comment. And I'm glad you see the point of what I'm trying to do with my threads.
I had worried that people might think these threads are my way of saying, "Look what I can do."
My threads are actually my way of saying, "Look what ReactOS can do."
I haven't had to troubleshoot much at all. ReactOS has been very agreeable.
I don't need audio on this PC, my next goal is to set it up as a networkable JBOD—with a pair of WD black 500GB spinners providing storage.
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

Update: I've just had to do a reinstall. Silly me—I hadn't tested OpenOffice since the last time I installed it. It kept locking the computer. And just now, the CD wouldn't install the OS properly, so I popped in the DVD instead. The DVD installed the OS perfectly, I reinstalled OpenOffice 4.1.1 off my USB stick, and this time did a test. Perfect. (I'm starting to think that OpenOffice likes to be the first thing installed.) Tomorrow night, I will reinstall the rest of my stuff—I'm tired and I've had too many late nights.
Stay Reactive.
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
User avatar
dizt3mp3r
Posts: 1874
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:54 pm

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by dizt3mp3r »

The reason you are receiving positive feedback is a) because you are positive b) because what you are doing has only really been possible recently. c) You are lucky in your choice of hardware.

ReactOS has improved massively in the last two years and it shows when you can successfully create such a 'rig' and think about using it.

I suggest you follow ctasan's approach and 'own' this type of thread and contribute regularly. There are others that are also running exclusively on real hardware and have done so for a while but you may be the first that attempts to run ReactOS in anger in order to use it. Hopefully such like-minded people will pair up with you to provide a decent set of threads - keep posting!

PS. I would avoid large amounts of multi-tasking or browsing as I find browsing with firefox induces that nasty BSOD.

Do let us know how you get on.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
Kevin Castro
Posts: 125
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:55 pm
Location: Australia

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by Kevin Castro »

I definitely don't do any multitasking. It's similar to walking a really tiny dog: it has little legs, so walk slowly.
As for the internet, I only went online once—a quick browse through the forums with the default Wine.
Also, I double-clicked an internet shortcut that's in a folder in my USB stick—"TV Guide". In a flash, Wine opened up the Ebroadcast tv guide website. I supposes many websites open in a flash without an antivirus.
I may or may not regularly use Katrora for the internet. Does anyone know how ReactOS responds to Avast?
0.4.14: Gigabyte GA-F2A68HM-DS2, AMD A4 7300 (dual-core APU at 3.8GHz), various SSDs
—Option A: TP-Link TG-3269 PCI gigabit LAN card (XP Beta driver online)
—Option B: TP-Link TG-3468 PCI-E gigabit LAN card (XP driver off disc)
User avatar
dizt3mp3r
Posts: 1874
Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:54 pm

Re: Using ReactOS to edit photos of its own tower.

Post by dizt3mp3r »

It appears to work, a recent post, Epic Win I think, showed it in operation. Remember you are probably one of the few if not the only person using ReactOS is anger.
Skillset: VMS,DOS,Windows Sysadmin from 1985, fault-tolerance, VaxCluster, Alpha,Sparc. DCL,QB,VBDOS- VB6,.NET, PHP,NODE.JS, Graphic Design, Project Manager, CMS, Quad Electronics. classic cars & m'bikes. Artist in water & oils. Historian.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests