Notes from Cornell, Platform Testing

EAASI Research Alliance Legacy Grant Phase
1

Some notes from Cornell’s testing for Part 1.

  • When importing a resource, the testing document says, use a particular “media type”, but the label in the interface appears to be “physical format”. (Just as a heads-up, the Metadata Working Group had a lot of discussion about labels in this area, so let us know if you want to chat with us about it at any point!)

  • I don’t think I could find Windows 95 C (OSR 2.5), but I did find Windows 95 B.

  • My colleague noted that Windows 3.0 did not have CD-ROM support, so it makes sense to me that if you try to load an ISO (CD-ROM disk image) into that environment, there should be some sort of EaaSI helpful note that you might not get what you were expecting.

  • One of our DOS programs required navigation using the PgUp/PgDn keys, and I could not figure out to simulate these on my Mac laptop. (Any ideas?)

  • Question: If a user generates an output file as a result of the software they are using, is there any way to transfer that to the host computer? (I know how I’d do this if I were running QEMU directly on my workstation, but I don’t know how to complete it in EaaSI.)

  • When you shut down an emulated machine, I was surprised that you don’t automatically regain control of your mouse.

  • Snow for Windows is delightful. (On 501 Great Games)

  • I remain a little unclear about the distinction between the Software type and the Content type and why these are delineated as such. The two works we demoed seem like a blend – you use the CD-ROM to install a program to your computer, and then you use that same CD-ROM as a data source for the now-locally installed software. I ran this in emulation and just kept the resource loaded as a software resource, but would it be preferable (for the system) for me to have loaded it in as a content resource instead? Is the difference between these two types about the way that these resources are handled for sharing across the EaaSI service? (Rather than how they are handled in the emulator itself?)

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This is a great set of questions and observations @dianne.dietrich especially

Blockquote * Question : If a user generates an output file as a result of the software they are using, is there any way to transfer that to the host computer? (I know how I’d do this if I were running QEMU directly on my workstation, but I don’t know how to complete it in EaaSI.)

It has inspired my own similar question about bringing resources out…

Question - Is it possible to take a base environment and export it to a format that can be imported into a Local standalone copy of EaaS? Particularly Mac-based environments? This would be an immense advantage as it would make setting up local copies on non-networked laptops much more straightforward.

Our use case at NAA will require non-networked local laptop instances of EaaS, kept in our highly secure rooms at the Archive where the laptop is completely air-gapped to ensure we can access examine certain unclassified and classified items in the collection. Having to build all the environments would be a drain in resources, so if there is an easier way, I’m interested to know. I know about vhd as I did it myself once with my local copy, however it was far from easy to do.

Tim

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thank you for these thoughts, @dianne.dietrich! (and @tim.mifsud!) some of these points we may bring back in larger group discussion, and/or in the SPN Community calls - particularly the metadata/labeling question, which we are absolutely interested in discussing more directly with the Metadata Working Group so we can align where we can with emerging practice (that label used to be called “media type” on the equivalent menus of earlier versions of EaaSI and EaaS, so that’s my bad again for not catching the inconsistency in the testing instructions - I’ve updated everyone’s Google docs again to say “Physical Format” for future reference or anyone who hasn’t had a chance to go through the testing yet!)

Further responses for now, and I will find ways to repeat some of these:

  • No, there is currently not a way to transfer files generated within an emulated Environment to the host computer in the EaaSI interface. I know the OpenSLX team has made this possible with EaaS in general but we have not had the chance to develop the functionality specifically for EaaSI. I will start a “feature request” thread in the Forum - it would be very helpful to get upvotes from others in the community and also to get details on how folks would like to see this implemented (e.g. should it be related to user permissions, with only Admins able to export files or such?)

  • The “Windows 95 C (OSR 2.5)” is not visible right now because of the issue Natalie reported at Can't "Change Resource Media" - using the Windows 95 B environment is indeed a good work-around for the moment. I believe the only difference is that the “C” release had USB capability - in some guest Environments USB capability allows for improved/slightly more precise input using QEMU’s emulated USB tablet or USB mouse devices (instead of the default emulated PS/2 mouse). However, for whatever reason I haven’t noticed that particularly works for Windows 95 B vs. C, even with USB drivers in the C release, so that’s a bit moot.

  • Yes, ultimately we hope to include some “help text” fields that display in the interface next to a running emulation (in that part of the interface where there’s currently some dummy/placeholder data), where users can see or add notes about OS or other guest software compatibility, like CD-ROM support, that might affect loading resources into that environment. There are a number of EaaSI features that depend on relationships like that (enabling “Connect to internet” requires TCP/IP stack support and configuration in the guest OS), so until there is a place for descriptive or free-text information associated with environments in the interface, the best I can do is note these concerns in the User Handbook and keep at it answering such questions and getting folks more comfortable with the underlying tech.

  • If you click on your user name at the top right of the screen and select “Node Preferences”, you should have the option to select your keyboard mapping (e.g. “Macbook/Macbook Pro”). This is another old label that should be changed asap, I believe the setting is user-specific, not node- or org-specific anymore. That may assist with mapping Mac keyboard input to something the emulator/DOS understands, although I am not certain what keys specifically PgUp/PgDn would map to! I’ll try to investigate that.

  • Noted re: automatically regaining control of your mouse instead of having to manually press “Esc” even after an emulated OS is shut down. I’ll file a ticket to put that in the UI development queue!

  • I highly recommend exploring the Internet Archive’s Shareware CD-ROM collection in general to find stuff to blow off steam in EaaSI :slight_smile:

  • You are on the money that “Software” and “Content” are a distinction for how these resources are handled by the EaaSI service, not how they’re handled by the emulators. The expected behavior, in a nutshell, is that Software is shareable to other orgs/nodes in the Network (currently via Environments, though we are working on the ability to share Software resources directly, so nodes can pass around installation media); it is assumed to be a dependency, or tool to open and render Content correctly. Content is assumed to be collection items or the thing you’re trying to get to as a digital archivist/librarian/curator/preservationist - which could itself be executable software (little “s”). The intent is that you will never be able to click “Publish to Network” on a Content resource.
    The second EaaSI Training Module was intended to elaborate on this distinction. As digital objects, Software and Content resources are treated the same by the system: they can be a single file or collection of files, they must have a defined Physical Format so the emulators know how to mount and behave with them, they could be executable programs, or not. It’s an entirely user-defined distinction of what the files or image contains and your ultimate goal with it in the system.
    The “Import Resources” menu should likely carry more of this information, so it is present in the interface itself without needing to consult external resources like the Training Modules or Handbook.