[Amiga] Amiberry + WHDLoad = Holy Grail - Amiberry's official thread

nemo93 · 21 Aug 2020, 11:25

All,

quite a lot of small improvements have been made to Amiberry lately thanks again to @midwan. If you upgrade from the latest source don't forget to update the XML file as usual to ensure everything remains smooth. Also always check if there's a new version for your WHD (lha) packages.

The most common issue you're likely to face in case you have an outdated XML along with Amiberry 3.2+ is that screen will be cut in half. If this happens => update XML please.

There's a new auto-height feature that has been added. Even if it should work in many games it might not be the case 100% of the time. For now it's being disabled by default as extensive testing has to be conducted. It's only enabled for Agony to show the benefit (no more cut in the lovely intro screens, everything will be full height all the time).

George Spiggott · 21 Aug 2020, 22:58

Auto screen height causes the screen to go black with the games I tried it with.

nemo93 · 22 Aug 2020, 07:57

@George-Spiggott can you please share names of some of those games please?

Note: with fixed height it usually works better hence why auto-height is currently off by default (or set only when game has no default height). It's just that in some games (like Agony) it prevents some screens to be cut. The corner case is Alien Breed Tower Assault or Blood Money: with auto-height intro screens are not cut off but you got flickering or other weird behaviours.

George Spiggott · 22 Aug 2020, 12:40

@nemo93 I tried Auto Height with Agony, Speedball and Turrican. All three of them show a black screen. I can turn the settings on and off to get a picture but the black screen returns when the screen changes e.g. when the high score screen comes on for Turrican.

nemo93 · 24 Aug 2020, 07:42

@George-Spiggott Agony is my test game for many different features. Hence I'm confident to claim that Auto Height works great with that game. I even decided to enable it as default in the XML. Do you mind upgrading Amiberry from source please? Once done please update the XML from within Amiberry GUI and check if this time it properly works? FYI the latest package for Agony is Agony_v2.1_0960.

George Spiggott · 24 Aug 2020, 19:43

I have just upgraded and updated the XML. I'm running Amiberry v3.2 beta (2020-08-19) and Agony 2.1 0960. Still no joy with Auto height. Line mode double (tested independently) seems to remove the intrrlace flicker nicely though.

nemo93 · 26 Aug 2020, 07:18

@George-Spiggott weird. Do you have any specific setting in your amiberry.conf file? Do you mind sharing its content please? You could try to move away that file to another location (do not delete or do a backup before) and run Agony once again to see how it goes. Also you don't run that game via a .uae correct?

George Spiggott · 26 Aug 2020, 21:15

@nemo93 Thanks, here's my amiberry.conf https://pastebin.com/q5S0iPWa

As far as I know it is unedited, I had planned to look into modifying Amiberry's default joypad/mouse options but never got round to it.

Renamed it and started Agony. Same result, black screen.

I'm not sure what you mean by running from a .uae but my copy o Agony is a .lha file. I'm running it with no saved config file

nemo93 · 27 Aug 2020, 12:13

@George-Spiggott thanks for sharing. If you don't mind I'd like first to tackle the KS roms part. Can you please ensure you have the 3 exact same KS as described on the wiki please - the ones with the checkmark?

In short, Kickstart v1.2 rev 33.180 (1986)(Commodore)(A500-A1000-A2000).rom as well as Kickstart v2.04 rev 37.175 (1991)(Commodore)(A500+).rom are not required. However you're lacking Kickstart v2.05 r37.350 (1992)(Commodore)(A600HD)[!].rom which is one important KS to ensure proper overall compatibility with most games.
=> could you drop that KS into your Retropie BIOS folder and try again (it's safe to remove the other 2 even if backup is always recommended :))?

I'm not sure what you mean by running from a .uae but my copy o Agony is a .lha file. I'm running it with no saved config file.

=> if you're having just the lha and no saved config file that's perfect.

George Spiggott · 30 Aug 2020, 16:42

I added the 2.05 kickstart. I still get a black screen. I have discovered that if I go to the Amiberry menu screen then come out I get a picture until the resolution changes then I get a black screen again.

Sadly due to redecorating at home my Pi is now disconected from the internet. Thanks for your help, hopefully I can pick things up again in a couple of weeks.

ecto · 31 Aug 2020, 06:35

@nemo93 Hi,
I just tried Hostages and it didn't work as expected: Right at the beginning whenever I left my hiding spot, I was shot. This should only happen, when standing in a spotlight. According to this thread I found, this is caused by some timing error and can be resolved by enabling a cycle exact emulation.

Is that possible to implement in Amiberry? My Amiberry was built from source 3 days ago and the whdload_db.xml was up to date.

Thanks for this great emulator btw!

nemo93 · 31 Aug 2020, 11:49

@George-Spiggott no worries and I wish you luck with you redecoration project! I'm just curious to know about the "picture" you mentioned after leaving the GUI. Is that picture about the game itself or perhaps an Amiberry logo?

@ecto nice catch! With the many improvements done lately (still more to come) by @midwan some games need adjustments. It Came from the Desert was one for sure and Hostages is another.

There's no cycle-exact emulation implemented (yet) but the game is working fine with the proper settings. I've already created a PR and whenever the XML file will be updated (usually within a week timeframe tops) you should be good to go. If you can't wait you could get an updated XML from there.

The settings to currently rely on are as follows (remember to Reset Amiberry once settings are ok):

* (Chipset) Blitter -> Normal
* (CPU) JIT -> True
* (CPU) Disable 24 bit addressing (to allow Z3 memory to be set)
* (RAM) remove any Z2 (FAST) memory => set to 0
* (RAM) add Z3 => set to 16MB to be safe

All credits to @midwan and to the contributors for bringing us Amiberry which is indeed a great Amiga emulator :-)

George Spiggott · 9 Jan 2020, 18:15

@nemo93 Yes it is the game picture. If I keep going into the Amiberry menu I can play the game.

I can use my Pi but I can't access the internet or local network with it. Also I don't have a keyboard so my options to tinker are exceptionally limited.

nemo93 · 1 Sept 2020, 07:40

@George-Spiggott no problem. Do you know your exact Pi config? I mean do you rely on a default Retropie install and update system packages from time to time? Or do you have a more fine-tuned setup eg. you've enabled the KMS driver for instance? What kernel version do you have? Also when you'll be able to, please check again your amiberry.conf file again to see if the 2.05 KS has been added (I still recommend you to delete the 2 other KS).

I really can't reproduce your issue here on my Pi4 (no overclock, no WIP or in-development driver or kernel, just the default).

George Spiggott · 1 Sept 2020, 17:14

@nemo93 Yes I updated to the new kernel and I am running the KMS driver with the legacy sound driver. I'll check the exact version later tonight. I will check amiberry.conf as soon as I am able.

Thanks for the continued help.

agerhard · 6 Sept 2020, 20:13

Hello together,

as I am putting together a new RetroPie unit one short question: as the 4.6 image comes with Amiberry 3.1.3 - how do I update to the latest 3.2 correctly?

Thanks for pinpointing me into the right direction.

cu,
agerhard

Stuffu · 6 Sept 2020, 20:20

@agerhard Hi, I’m not sure the binaries have updated yet, update from source in the RetroPie setup menu, Amiberry is located under optional packages, and it will update to 3.2.

agerhard · 6 Sept 2020, 21:22

Hello Stuffu, thanks for the info. Installed Amiberry from binary first - an option to "update" from source does not seem to be available. Do you refer to "Install from source" maybe?

cu,
agerhard

Stuffu · 6 Sept 2020, 21:47

@agerhard yup, that’s it!

silentheaven83 · 9 Aug 2020, 16:08

Hi everybody, does anyone feel that games run a little faster then normal?
I'm loading LHA files using lastest version of Retropie and Amiberry built from source on a Rpi 3B+.

For example, in Kick Off when players enter the stadium there was a slowdown in original hardware and FS-UAE but not in Amiberry and the game feels faster overall.

In Street Fighter 2 fighters seem to move faster then normal. I'm not too good at the game but when I play in FS-UAE I can beat CPU in the first round of the first opponent, in Amiberry sometimes I can't even decide how to hit the CPU.