[ros-kernel] 0.2.3 release

[Bernd Blaauw]

Eric Kohl wrote:
> I fixed these typos. Did you find any more?

wrong wording at 2nd screen of installation cdrom (partitioning)

Can you check the wording at the partitioning schemes
(primary, minimum 0, maximum 4, or 3 if extended partition is present)
(extended, minimum 0, maximum 1, logical partitions optional)
(logical, minimum 0, maximum unlimited?)

it uses Extended instead of Logical a few times.

also at end of setup, there's no more need to remove ReactOS cdrom
(setup asks you this after flushing has been done) because the "press any key 
to boot from cd" has been implemented.
(hm.."All cdroms from cd-drive" ? 1 cdrom per drive, not multiple)

same for first reboot when finished completing admin pass, pc-name etc.

make it "Press any key to boot ReactOS setup from cdrom . . ." ??

user-request, not a text-comment:
can the finishing "Press ENTER to reboot" have a timeout of 5 minutes or so?
enough time to see what's going on, but not waiting indefinately for the user..

LogOff(!) and TurnOff both cause a blue screen with no contents under Vmware 
Workstation version 4.5.2
kind of AT-style shutdown this way. User still has to hit power button.

installing a ReactOS to VMware and later downgrading available memory to 16MB 
causes a NTOSKRNL error, something about 0 0 0 0, lots of numbers and "DEADBEEF".
is NTOSKRNL crashing, or GUI/splashscreen? can any sub-20MB system move to 
textmode (cmd.exe) if not enough memory to load splashscreen and/or GUI?

20MB works, but is more than "hey I installed 2 8MB SIMMS, get this OS working 
on my old computer"

GUI: right click Start Menu, then Settings. The window appears way too low.

ReactOS: any way to create a bootdisk from a ReactOS system?
FreeLDR and the .ini are present, but not the bootsector writer program
(which is only in FreeLDR full binary (/source?) package)

> The backend is not implemented yet. I disabled the non-implemented settings
> pages in the 0.2.3 branch.

OK, but should user then select VESA when installing from cdrom?
(that device settings page for setting display/keyboard/mouse)

any "hey you're in Vmware, press a key to mount the Vmware tools ISO so we can 
import the graphics drivers" trics?

> This is not a good idea because IMO users expect a readme file in the root
> directory.

Readme file cannot be opened/viewed from WELCOME.EXE
(which is what starts when inserting cdrom, at least for the normal user who 
hasn't and won't set AUTORUN to 'disabled' state)

the "install ReactOS" doesn't work from WELCOME.EXE
(says: go to control panen (?), but that might be quite a  different approach 
then booting from cdrom..Install + Add entry to boot.ini or install FreeLDR

can the readme file be viewed from the WELCOME.EXE that is now present?
any license file present?

then at least the ICON file. but where to put it? loader dir or ReactOS dir ?
"shell\" is for when right-clicking the cdrom from explorer.
A:
C:
D: (right click -> View ReadMe)

[autorun]
open=\reactos\welcome.exe
icon=\reactos\reactos.ico,0
label=ReactOS
shell\ROSReadme=View Read&Me
shell\ROSReadme\command=start \README.TXT

hope that any of these comments help you. ROS is making big progress,
but end-users notice (only) the small things.
("hey it now looks much more like NT, but these and these and those things are 
   different")

> Regards,
> Eric

Bernd Blaauw

PS: sorry for the long mail, and for no additional typo's