[Minix][Tutorial 1] How to install Minix and setup VMware Player

This tutorial has been updated to conform with the 2015/2016 LCOM course program.

Hello again!

This is going to be the first tutorial of the Minix series. I will be running Ubuntu and I strongly advice you to do the same. Just install it alongside Windows.
So... shall we start?

Get Eclipse

If you don't have it already installed, you will need to get Eclipse. Check my tutorial on this.

Get VMware Player

[Outdated] This is no longer used in LCOM. Check the Get VirtualBox section below.

Follow this link and download the version corresponding to your system.

If you are using Ubuntu as I told you, installing VMware Player can be tricky.
As you will see, the link above will get you a VMware-Player-xxx-version.bundle. How do we install something like this? Go to this site and follow step number 2.

Good, now you have VMware Player installed! :)

Get VirtualBox

If you are using Ubuntu as I told you, installing VirtualBox should be really easy - you just need to open the Terminal and run the following command:

sudo apt-get install virtualbox

If you are running Windows - Really?? STOP USING IT..! Install Ubuntu now! - follow this link and download the version corresponding to your system.

Get Minix 3.1.8

Download the Minix image - last updated in 2015/16 (may be outdated if you are viewing this in 2016/17 or beyond).

Extract the download and place it somewhere. I put it here:



Now open Minix-LCOM and launch Minix-LCOM.vbox.



VirtualBox should have opened.
Now you just need to press Start in the top bar.



After pressing start, Minix should start to boot up. Give it a couple of seconds and you should be prompted with the login screen:



The login username and password are both: lcom

That's it for now!

On the next tutorial I'll show you the basic commands to use Minix and how to link Eclipse with the virtual machine to start programming stuff ! :)

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New tutorial series about Minix 3.1.8

Hello everyone!

As you might not know, I live in Portugal and I am studying computer engineering at FEUP, in Oporto.

I'm currently taking a course called Computer Labs. To sum it up: we start with an image of a Linux micro kernel called Minix. We run it through VMPlayer on Ubuntu.
From there we mess with registers and program the basics for all the devices from scratch: graphics card, timer, keyboard, mouse, rtc, uart. We must program them in interrupt or polling mode.

If you are wondering if that is easy: well it depends. Most of the times, we rage quit. Other than that, once you get how things work (on the lab before the last one), things should start to make sense?

All this to announce a new series of tutorials, where I'll explain how to set up the virtual machine, how to use Eclipse to code stuff via Remote System Explorer, basic Minix commands and how to do... stuff!

The course is near the end and my final project is almost done. It looks good I must say!
So yeah, this series will be useful for me because I'll get to review every detail from the very start. I'll record my progress so I can check it in the future if I need to.

Actually, I think this series will be of great value for future students who need to take the course or a similar one, and for my friends who didn't quite understand things properly at first and will have to take the course again next year.
Whichever the case is: good luck!

I'll start the series soon!

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Marshall Lee Wallpaper

Hi!

Just made this wallpaper and thought I could share it..

How to setup Eclipse for C/C++, MinGW and CUTE plugin

Setting Up Eclipse

• First we need to download Eclipse. Open this link and click on "Windows 32-bit" or "Windows 64-bit" according to your system.
• After you download the .zip, extract it and place the eclipse folder somewhere you like. I placed mine in C:\Program Files\Eclipse. Here's a screen:

Setting Up MinGW

• Download MinGW from the link below:
• http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/latest/download?source=files
• Run the installer. Press "Install" and then "Continue".
• The MinGW Installation Manager should now open. Click on "Basic Setup" on the left side of the window. Then look for "mingw32-base", click on the check box and select "Mark for Installation". Also mark "mingw32-gcc-g++" (Class "bin" and "dev") for Installation.
• On the main menu bar, click on "Installation" menu and select "Apply Changes". Wait for it to finish.
• When it is done, you should have something like this:

• Right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties". Click on "Advanced System Settings". Press "Environment Variables..." and add a new user variable named "Path" and with the location of MinGW bin folder on its value. You should have something like this:

Setting Up CUTE plugin

• Open Eclipse. If prompted on where to store your workspace, browse to the folder where you want to keep your projects.
• On the main menu bar, click on "Help" menu and select "Install New Software..."

 

• Click "Add..."
• Fill in the forms:
• Name: CUTE
• Location: http://www.cute-test.com/updatesite
• Press OK.
• Now select:
• CUTE Optional Features
• CUTE Plugin

• Press "Next" twice, select "I accept (...)" and then press "Finish". When it is done it will prompt you to restart Eclipse.

--------------------------------------
And that concludes this tutorial.

Hope it helped you!

Henrique Ferrolho

A media driver your computer needs is missing. [SOLVED]

"A media driver your computer needs is missing. This could be a DVD, USB, or Hard Disk driver. . . ."

It's not the first time I get this error while trying to install Windows 8 (you might be trying to install other version).

I haven't really figured out what causes this error.

I've heard some of the causes:

- It can be because you are trying to install windows from a usb 3.0 pen your motherboard does not support yet. Solution: use a usb 2.0 port!

- It can also be because of an incompatible device, such as a card reader. Solution: try to unplug everything you don't need (such as fingerprint reader, card readers, etc...) and retry installing windows. The error should be gone.


In my case, none of those were the causes. I don't know what it was, maybe it has to do with the hard disk itself... Anyway, here is MY solution, I mean, the workaround that WORKED WITH ME when I tried installing windows 8.


1st time:
I used windows 7 installation disk to try to repair my computer.Yes, Windows (SEVEN) 7! Yes, I was installing windows 8. But I used the 7 repair tool, since it is much powerful (IMO) than the one that comes with the windows 8 disk.

The windows 7 repair tool successfully repaired my computer and when I tried to install Windows 8 again, the error was gone.


2nd time:
I had to format my laptop and reinstall Windows 8. The same error came up. The windows 7 disk was not with me so I could not use it. I went to advanced options menu (still in the windows 8 disk) and tried to repair. Didn't work. I started the command line option and formatted my hard disk (drive d: in that day). So: I typed: "d:" and then "format d:". It started formatting my local disk but it was taking too long. When it was on 7%, I ctrl+C (breaked) the operation. And when I restarted the windows 8 setup, the error was gone :D


Hope this helps!

Tetris

The game was programmed using C++ language and Allegro 5 2D graphical library.

Download link:

[Windows]

https://github.com/Difusal/Tetris/blob/master/Installers/Windows/Setup-SetupFiles/Setup.msi?raw=true

Repository:

https://github.com/Difusal/Tetris.git

SS:

Particle Waves Simulator

C++ simulator using Allegro 5 graphics library.
You can create waves of particles and customize particle behavior.

Download link:
[Windows]
https://github.com/Difusal/Particle-Waves-Simulator/blob/master/Binaries/Windows/Particle%20Waves%20Simulator.rar?raw=true
[Ubuntu]
https://github.com/Difusal/Particle-Waves-Simulator/blob/master/Binaries/Ubuntu/Particle%20Waves%20Simulator.zip?raw=true

Repository:
https://github.com/Difusal/Particle-Waves-Simulator.git

SS:

Slide Puzzle Reloaded

C++ game using Allegro 5 graphics library.
The goal is to move pieces around until you get the original image.

Download link (small download button):
http://www.2shared.com/file/aHpEH_M3/Slide_Puzzle_Reloaded.html

Repository:
https://svn.fe.up.pt/repos/slide_puzzle_reloaded

SS:

Classic Snake Game

My first game using Allegro 2D library. Programmed in C++.

Download link (small download button):
http://www.2shared.com/file/1Yjf9GXo/Snake.html

Repository:
http://svn.fe.up.pt/projects/snake/repository

SS:

Ultraleve - A Chata