Acorn Arcade forums: Running RISC OS under emulation with RPCEmu

Running RISC OS under emulation with RPCEmu

In previous articles, I looked at VirtualRPC as a way to run RISC OS on my Mac. Another options is RPCEmu.

This offers 2 potential main advantages over Virtual Acorn - it is free and it runs RISC OS 5.

The software can be downloaded from http://www.marutan.net/rpcemu/ and you can also get a USB drive with the software on it from RISC OS Open.

RPCEmu is available for Mac, Linux and Windows. The Windows and Mac versions both come as ready to run applications while Linux needs you to build the source code (which is also supplied). This is because it needs the Allegro Game Library. This process is not as daunting as it sounds and the instructions are clear and cover each step. If you are already a Linux user, you may already be doing this,. If you are not it is a really good introduction to compiling software which will open lots of new software to you....

The Mac version of RPCEmu has some isses with Retina screens on the later Macs (it works fine if you move it onto an external monitor). You can get around running this by running the software in low resolution (Menu and Info options). This trick does not appear to work on the 2016 October MacBookPros :-(

RPCEmu allows you to configure the software and choose settings like mouse buttons, etc. A copy of RISC OS 5 is included and a Hard drive to setup a basic RISC OS 5 installation.

This gives you a fully-functional RISC OS 5 machine, which can access the local hard drive. I have a shared directory on my setup so I can have a single shared copy of my RISC OS applications between Virtual Acorn and RPCEm. (You cannot share everything because RISC OS 5 and 6 have different setups and !Boot drives but it it useful to be able to shared data and third party software.) In usage I find RPCEmu runs slightly slower than Virtual Acorn but the speed is perfectly acceptable on a high end machine.

So if you are looking for an easy way to run RISC OS on your non-RISC OS machine, or even something to improve your Linux skills, have a look at RPCEmu.

RPCEmu website

Running RISC OS under emulation with RPCEmu

nunfetishist (12:46 24/1/2017)
  markee174 (16:04 24/1/2017)
    mac9 (14:47 26/1/2017)
      geraldholdsworth (16:52 26/1/2017)
        mac9 (15:23 29/1/2017)
      markee174 (07:26 27/1/2017)
        mac9 (15:28 29/1/2017)
    castlevarich (21:08 7/2/2017)
  Thicassiong11 (09:20 25/1/2017)

Rob Kendrick

Message #123993, posted by nunfetishist at 12:46, 24/1/2017

Today's phish is trout a la creme.

Posts: 525

Mac is not an acronym

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Mark Stephens

Message #123995, posted by markee174 at 16:04, 24/1/2017, in reply to message #123993

Does all the
work around here
Posts: 155

More a way of life....

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Alex Suffer

Message #123996, posted by Thicassiong11 at 09:20, 25/1/2017, in reply to message #123993

Member
Posts: 1

+1

[Edited by Thicassiong11 at 09:22, 25/1/2017]

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Andrew McCarthy

Message #123998, posted by mac9 at 14:47, 26/1/2017, in reply to message #123995

Member
Posts: 16

It is good to see RISC OS articles being written again and yours encouraged me to give RPCEmu another go. But sadly I still can't get it to use any of the hard disc images that are supplied on the website. Also it might be worth highlighting to readers that "RPCEmu should be considered Alpha Quality code"

[Edited by mac9 at 15:29, 29/1/2017]

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Gerald Holdsworth

Message #123999, posted by geraldholdsworth at 16:52, 26/1/2017, in reply to message #123998

Member
Posts: 12

But sadly I still can't get it to use any of the hard discs images that are supplied on the website.

This is a RISC OS 5 limitation, not an RPCEmu limitation. If you run RPCEmu with RISC OS 3, 4 or 6 then it will see, and use, the hard drive image (assuming the software is configured correctly).
This is covered on the website.

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Mark Stephens

Message #124000, posted by markee174 at 07:26, 27/1/2017, in reply to message #123998

Does all the
work around here
Posts: 155

If you get the USB from RISC OS Open, it comes with a ready to run setup.

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Andrew McCarthy

Message #124003, posted by mac9 at 15:23, 29/1/2017, in reply to message #123999

Member
Posts: 16

Thank you for highlighting it is a RISC OS 5 limitation, I didn't consider this.

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Andrew McCarthy

Message #124004, posted by mac9 at 15:28, 29/1/2017, in reply to message #124000

Member
Posts: 16

If you get the USB from RISC OS Open, it comes with a ready to run setup.

Thank you, good to know...

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Jon Robinson

Message #124023, posted by castlevarich at 21:08, 7/2/2017, in reply to message #123995

Member
Posts: 55

Dear Mark
If you are buying a new MacBook and you want to have the freedom to run RPCEmu on it, which is the best model to go for ?

I'm not sure whether all the new Mac odels that are on sale now, have Retina screens, or not.

Jon Robinson, Leeds

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