Squeak VM Setup

Just a record for the steps of setting up Squeak VM compilation tools.

The first useful tutorial I encounter is to set up the tools for VM compilation. I am going to simplify the steps as follows:

1. Download the Squeak VM Win32 Source from the release directory, into C:\. It saves you a lot of fine tuning work instead of putting your stuff in other folders, for example, the Makefile adjustment.

2. Install VMMaker() from the package loader in Squeak, and check the System Browser for the Win32VMMaker class, remove it and replace it by filing in the new Win32VMMaker.st from here.

3. Execute “VMMakerTool openInWorld”, and complete the fields as follows:
Interpreter class name: Interpreter
Path to platform code: C:\SqueakVM\platforms
Platform name: Win32
Path to generate sources: C:\SqueakVM\platforms\win32\build\src

4. Then drag the plugins from Plugins not build into Internal Plugins, and then click on the generate entire button. This will generate the corresponding C files that are used to compile your new VM.

5. The next step is to get the compiling tools. After extracting the file, you should have two folders “dx7sdk” and “gnutools”. Put these folders in C:\ as well.

6. Next, set the path by going into System Properties>Advanced>Environmental Variables. Edit the variable path, by adding in “C:\GNUTools\bin”, with a semicolon as a separator.

7. Then, go to the commamd prompt C:\SqueakVM\platforms\win32\build\ and invoke “make”. If there exists an error, generate the plugins again from Squeak, and invoke make again. After a few minutes of waiting, you should have your VM in the obj\vm directory of the build.

8. If you want a custom VM, there are a few things that need to be done. First, edit the Makefile in the build directory, change VM = Whatever; then, add another rule right at the bottom of the file,

# Whatever.res: misc/Whatever.rc
# $(RC) $(RCFLAGS) -i $< -o $(OBJDIR)/$@

Then save and close Makefile.

9. Duplicate a Whatever.def.in file from Squeak.def.in in the build directory and Duplicate a Whatever.rc file from Squeak.rc in the win32\misc folder and you can actually edit your icons there. For example, if you prefer the Croquet icon rather than the original Squeak icon, duplicate from Croquet.rc instead !

10. Invoke make in the command prompt again to enjoy your first VM !!

No Respite

Just when I thought I have seen the light, breathing fresh air after months of endless fighting for survival, I’m now into a much deeper and harder situation than before. Funnily enough, it is yet another one year project that is driving my brain to the brink of insanity. I thought MESCORP was hard.

Back

It’s been really long since I’ve left a word here. I was overwhelmed with MESCORP work and it causes a lot of disruption in my life. In a way, life in MESCORP shows me how much of stuffs that I do daily are quite redundant and useless. I cut out a lot of activities which seemed to be the norm in my life in order to have the necessary amount of time needed to perform my duties.

16th July 2008. MESCORP Conference & Exhibition, and the day where I can reset back to my routines before MESCORP. It is strange that I could not exactly recall how I wasted my time, but I’m gradually getting to grips to where the minutes went to, and will really treat my time with more respect. I’m actually in the middle of doing my FYP currently and just feel like leaving a line here to announce my return to the blogging world. Thank you !!

MESCORP Thailand Trip

The preparation was short, but tense, filled with a lot of worries and uncertainties. We somehow managed to exhaust our time and end up facing a possible scenario where the trip to Thailand will be just a tour around Thailand as in couldn’t get an interview arranged at all. Luckily for us, the reply came a few weeks before the trip took place.

Delta Sem 2 Post Mortem

Well, I admit I got a little bit rusty and kind of don’t know how to start this post. I’ve really let a lot of event flew past me unrecorded here. There were a few major events for the past one and a half to two months and the experience has been both of great solace and traumatic.

-1 unread ? WTF ??

Well, a few days ago, I was encountered a strange scenario when I’m checking my mail in Yahoo.

Saw it? Luckily the first thing I did was to press the printscreen button instead of refresh!

Ya, I was a little bit dumb wondering how to upload pics or photos in wordpress. I tried clicking in the insert image thing in the formatting bar and couldn’t figure out how to upload my image to the net. Finally, I realize that the upload file thingy is located in the bottom of the posting options. Sigh… That was damn dumb.

So, in conjunction with MMU’s vision and mission, I achieved two records in one post, for my blog. The shortest post, and the first image in a post. Too bad it wouldn’t make it in Malaysian Book of Records, but at least, it will be immortalized in Ethan’s blog of records. Cheers!

Migrating To Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.10

I’m currently testing the “Scribe Fire” extension of Mozilla Firefox. So the other announcement I have to make is that I’m migrating from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox. It’s been a long time since my friends and housemates keep nagging me about changing. I’ve used three browsers namely Opera, IE and Firefox. Each has it’s unique features and that is really causing all the problems for me by changing from one browser to another.

The Journey Begins

Hmm, in around 8 hours time, I will be heading to KTAK to interview some people there for MESCORP. I’m happy with my presentation preparation, although it has to be said that my speech stutters a bit from time to time.

Face Lift

Suddenly felt that my blog appearance was pretty boring and dull, hence decided to play around with the themes since I’m quite free at the moment.

Oh My Bed…

Phew, class was quite good just now ! Not really about the amount of stuff learned in class, but that we managed to convince(coax :p) our lecturer into shifting one hour of tutorial and one hour of lecture class into tuesday. Hence from now up to the next eight weeks, week end starts at 12pm Thursday.