On Sparemint website (16), you can retrieve a recent (albeit beta) build of the MiNT kernel along with Xaaes as a replacement AES. Warning: there is no desktop application with it, but you can launch GEM applications (thus a desktop like Thing or Teradesk (19) for example).
At the bottom of Sparemint homepage, you'll find a link to the FreeMiNT 1.16.1 beta release archive. Retrieve the binary archive named 'freemint-1.16.1-beta.tar.gz'. Decompress it in a subdir of an accessible HOSTFS directory, so you can access it from within ARAnyM, rename it to a '8.3' length directory name:
$ cd /one/of/my/hostfs/path $ tar xvzf freemint-1.16.1-beta.tar.gz $ mv freemint-1.16.1-beta mint.116
Beware that having an error in MiNT configuration file can produce a broken installation, thus, do a backup copy of your disk image, before trying to install MiNT. It should not be a problem if you have a boot manager, so you can prevent MiNT from booting, and can fix the problem.
Go to mint.116/mint/1-16-1.
You can rename mfp.xdd, mfp_mil.xdd, scc.xdd, uart.xdd as .xd files, so MiNT does not load them, we don't need them in ARAnyM. In this directory, put hostfs.xfs that comes with ARAnyM to be able to access HOSTFS directories.
Beware ! There is a bug in 1.16.1 kernel that makes it crash when loading any XIF module. So don't put aranym.xif there atm. You should either wait for a new kernel release, or compile kernel from CVS yourself.
When you have HOSTFS directories accessible in MiNT, you can put every file you need on it. Only the stuff needed to boot your Atari system is required in a floppy or an hard disk image. For MiNT, only the MiNT kernel, its drivers and configuration files need to be on a disk image. Anything else, like for example the AES/desktop files, and applications, can reside on a HOSTFS directory.
\\Note: it seems Xaaes wants its files in MiNT directory, maybe more up-to-date Xaaes do not have this limit.
Edit mint.cnf file to correct the path to xaloader.prg. Search the line starting with 'INIT=' and correct the xaloader path:
INIT=u:/c/mint/1-16-1/xaaes/xaloader.prg
See the end of the file xaaes/xaaes.cnf to know how to run a desktop application. Examples are provided for Thing, Jinnee and Teradesk.
If you're only enlightened by the green light of standard Atari desktop, you can try to boot Atari AES 4.1 (18). Unpack the aes-4.1.tar.gz archive in this directory. In this case, add a '#' at the start of the previous line to prevent Xaaes from booting, and add this line:
GEM=u:/c/mint/1-16-1/aes41/gem.sys
it is possible to run ROM AES desktop from TOS using an adequate loader (8), but the ROM desktop does not allow you to run several GEM applications.
Now boot ARAnyM, and we will copy some files from mint.116 HOSTFS directory to our disk image.
First, copy the mint directory (in mint.116 directory) at the root of your boot drive. It contains everything needed to boot MiNT, like configuration file, device drivers, filesystem drivers, and Xaaes.
Copy mintara.prg in auto subdirectory in the auto folder of your boot drive. Check that it is the latest file in the folder (You can unsort files in the desktop View menu). Also disable any MetaDOS-like driver, as MiNT does the same work. Now, you can reboot.
MiNT should start itself, you have some debug informations in text console, if you run it from a CLI window. Press shift key to go to MiNT configuration menu, and disable memory protection, before going further. Now you should reach the GEM desktop (for Atari AES) or Xaaes launch screen (or the desktop you setup for Xaaes).