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

rhester72

A few ignorant Amiberry questions, if I may:

WHDLoad Booter:

Does this completely eliminate the need for the amiga-data directory (and contents)?
All the 'important' Kickstarts do indeed get symlinked from the BIOS directory...except the 2.05 A600HD one, which is needed when CPU=68000/68010 (see associated notes about crash bug here: https://github.com/midwan/amiberry/issues/310). Is this normal/expected (i.e. should Amiberry try to load that specific Kickstart directly from the BIOS directory)?
The Amiberry splash screen...why does it change colors and what do they mean (it appears to be related to resolution and/or NTSC vs. PAL), and can it be disabled entirely?
Can we get LINE_DOUBLING moved from hostprefs to whd configs? I don't think it should necessarily be a global - some demos benefit from not having it present (otherwise you lose half the vertical resolution), other titles (like Arcade Pool) need it to prevent nasty image shaking.

Thanks much for any help/commentary :)

HoraceAndSpider

@dudleydes I will check N&S but i see no reason it should not work, unless the installer / slave has a bug that requires the data folder specified (Jaguar XJ220 has this problem and i have reported it to the slave author)

Games that require a mouse should be specified by the XML file, but this is a WIP so apologies but a lot are probably missing for now. This will improve.

@rhester72

Does this completely eliminate the need for the amiga-data directory (and contents)?

Yes, although i retain mine for development files, HD folders, CD folders etc which i do not want RetroPie to cache on load.

All the 'important' Kickstarts do indeed get symlinked from the BIOS directory...except the 2.05 A600HD one, which is needed when CPU=68000/68010

The symlink creates files for WHDLoad 'internally' (i.e. in the Amiga environment). The CPU=68000 is setting an option for Amiberry, so wouldnt need the symlink, and i dont think 2.05 is one that WHDLoad generally needs. Amiberry will use whatever folder you have specified in it's 'paths' panel. On the RetroPie distro, the default path is symlinked back to /home/pi/RetroPie/BIOS/ , so ... in answer to your question (...eventually!...) .. yes, Amiberry should try to load that kickstart from the BIOS folder in this instance.

The Amiberry splash screen...why does it change colors and what do they mean

It means the randomly selected colour today is 'red'. Or maybe 'blue'. And very occassionally 'pink'. It's there for fun, no hidden meaning!

Can we get LINE_DOUBLING moved from hostprefs to whd configs?

This was a user request for this to be a hostprefs, and i think can be important with certain sizes of display, but i can certainly look into having the .whd specification for it act as an override at user preference.

I see you asked on GitHub about the best place to ask about support, but to be honest, I am much more likely to pick it up on Github, although here other used may be able help instead.

The other option is to join the very popular 'Amiga RetroPie WHDLoad Group' which has lots of users sharing their experiences with the solution.

rhester72

@horaceandspider

Understood. One other quick question re: the splash screen - is it presented while the lha is being unpacked? Is there any way to disable the splash?

HoraceAndSpider

@rhester72 said in [Amiga] Amiberry + WHDLoad = Holy Grail - Amiberry's official thread:

@horaceandspider

Understood. One other quick question re: the splash screen - is it presented while the lha is being unpacked? Is there any way to disable the splash?

No, it isnt currently available to be disabled by the end-user, unless creating their own boot program.

It is multi-tasked however, so even on the 'faster' load the splash comes up whilst the game data is being preloaded (cached).

There are two reasons in particular to have this;

The previous booter was without a splash screen, but i recieved a lot of feedback about users thinking they were 'stuck' on a black screen. In many cases, it was a simple case of impatience and the splash gives and indication that something is happening. (Some games with many disks still take a little while to cache.)

Also it is the point at which the user can interupt the process by holding 'fire' down and force the loader to re-scan for an altrnative slave file or change custom settings (e.g. games that have expansion data available) so it does act as a visual cue.

Hope this helps explain.

youxia

I've followed the Guide to the letter, then tried ~20 games and only one has loaded properly (1942). Most go into a black screen after the AutoBooter creates the initial WHD setup file. During the creation it displays "Setpatch: not found" message.
Some also blackscreen just after Amiberry logo.
I've tried to find this file: /home/pi/RetroPie/amiga/whdboot/boot-data/Devs/system-configuration to disable it and get some error messages from DOS, but this directory does not exist. The one in opt/retropie/configs/amiga/amiberry/whdboot/ contains a "boot-data", but it's a .zip archive.

I tried some games directly as hdf/adf and these are fine, so the emulator itself is working.

Also, unrelated question: is there any roadmap for Amiberry becoming cycle-accurate? (or maybe it's already the case?)

rhester72

@youxia

Interesting - I've also had the SetPatch not found warning, but only with WHDBooter - it works normally when I'm running against unpacked images.

However, despite the error, the games I've tested (mostly) work fine.

HoraceAndSpider

@youxia said in [Amiga] Amiberry + WHDLoad = Holy Grail - Amiberry's official thread:

Setpatch: not found

This can be ignored - an older version of the booter checked for its presence, because it wa needed in older WHDLoad versions. This is no longer the case, and when i was unable to find a 'free' (AROS) version of SetPatch that did not cause an error, I removed it, as it wasnt needed.

Some also blackscreen just after Amiberry logo.

I have seen this on occasion, but I have had trouble consistently reporoducing it.

On every time though, i have found that a simple reset (either in the amiberry menu, or just reload from Emulation Station) will then load the game fine, so i think the problem is the RetroPie implementation trying to write to DH0: (which is not writable, as it's a ZIP file) so there is probably a hidden warning happening.

It isnt critical, but it is an annoyance i plan to rectify.

I've tried to find this file: /home/pi/RetroPie/amiga/whdboot/boot-data/Devs/system-configuration to disable it and get some error messages from DOS, but this directory does not exist.

Legacy 'tip' from the previous implementation i'm afraid. The file is contained in the ZIP now.

Also, unrelated question: is there any roadmap for Amiberry becoming cycle-accurate? (or maybe it's already the case?)

Initial tests have indicated that the Pi 3 doesnt have the speed to do cycle-exact. I remain optimistic that a slimmed-down version might be possible but it's not really my area i'm afraid.

HoraceAndSpider

@youxia can you do me a favour please and via SMB or FTP navigate to your configs section of retropie.

Under amiga/amiberry/whdboot/save-data can you tell me if there are 4 folders created?

youxia

@HoraceAndSpider thanks for replying. I tried to reboot games multiple times but they still refuse to work. Why 1943 does work though? It's so weird.

Yes, there are 4 dirs in amiga/amiberry/whdboot/save-data. I was also wrong previously - there is a boot-data dir in opt/retropie/configs/amiga/amiberry/whdboot/ and it does contain that system file. I removed it but still did not get to DOS. If I removed it from that other .zip file, would that help to see some error messages? Or are there any logs I could check and report?

In fact I've just tried a few more games and 2 work: Benefactor and Bionic Commando. But the rest didn't. Tomorrow I will try to start from scratch: delete all the assorted configs and reinstall from source.

HoraceAndSpider

@youxia said in [Amiga] Amiberry + WHDLoad = Holy Grail - Amiberry's official thread:

opt/retropie/configs/amiga/amiberry/whdboot/

You shouldn’t have both the boot-data folder and the zip file. Remove the folder, especially if it is empty!

Are you sure you have all the relevant kickstart files and that they are being correctly symlinked?

Usually if only certain games work it is because a kickstart required by that game is missing...

youxia

@HoraceAndSpider Okay, got it sorted finally. I did a clean reinstall of everything but I think you might've been right - I saw there was one non-symlinked kickstart previously. I thought I had it covered, with a zillion .roms in the /BIOS, but of course managed to miss one anyway :) It's also worth noting that the official (ahem) naming has changed slightly in the last edition - eg (1993-07), not just (1993) - so these names would differ from the "common name" (not sure if this matters thou).

One thing: I was reading the amiberry doc regarding individual game configs, do I understand correctly that if I make a separate .uae config for a WHDload game it will take priority over the WHD config? I mean, I need to tweak probably most of these installs, seeing as I'm using a NTSC CRT (headache). So if I fire up a WHD game, then go into Amiberry menu, tweak and make a config, would that work on the next boot? Would I have to name it properly (same as the WHD?)
Another thing, all the .lha archives I've tried worked, but .zip ones (from another source) mostly did not.

Also, an unrelated bizarre glitch, present in the previous versions as well: If I enter a directory menu in Amiberry - eg the (...) when looking for a game in the floppy menu, the navigation becomes super-sensitive (when using a joypad) or super-slow (when using a keyboard). I use both PS3 wired pad and a USB keyboard. Ever heard of this one? (I have a theory it might have something to do with NTSC, had similar problems with Atari800 emu (super slow response on keyboard) and heard this could be the cause)

HoraceAndSpider

@youxia said in [Amiga] Amiberry + WHDLoad = Holy Grail - Amiberry's official thread:

It's also worth noting that the official (ahem) naming has changed slightly in the last edition - eg (1993-07), not just (1993) - so these names would differ from the "common name" (not sure if this matters thou).

Thanks - it doesnt matter for Amiberry's scanning, but it does matter for the guide / Wiki section, so that is useful to know.

One thing: I was reading the amiberry doc regarding individual game configs, do I understand correctly that if I make a separate .uae config for a WHDload game it will take priority over the WHD config? I

Thats correct. When you load a game direct from LHA is sets the 'game name' internally to that of the LHA file.... so when you load IndyHeat_V1.1.lhaany config oyu save will be IndyHeat_V1.1.uae

The next time you load the .lha the autobooter will do a quick check... "does IndyHeat_V1.1.uaeexist? If so, ignore the XML or the .WHD files, and load this instead. I have a mind to use this to allow quick loading of save-states in the future too.

If I enter a directory menu in Amiberry - eg the (...) when looking for a game in the floppy menu, the navigation becomes super-sensitive (when using a joypad) or super-slow (when using a keyboard).

Dimitris did some fixes to the menu navigation code to work with the GUI via AXIS control, but i have a funny feeling it didnt make it into all the GUI modules.... I'm doing some work here at the moment to make mulitple contollers work in the GUI, so i will have a look to see if the same fix needs to be applied to the file navigations, sub-menus etc

Mr Spoc

Hello all

Thank you for this guide and for the git.
I am new to this and i have a few questions if anyone can give me some guidance that would be great.

I am using a pi3 with retropie and a DIY arcade sanwa type joystick and buttons, my setup is similar to a bartop and all my Mame arcade games with my setup are working fine. I have setup amiberry through the retropi setup gui and loaded a handful of games and they run ok.

Questions:

I tried to set up the exit game button like its described here but no luck.
I cannot find the .uae files for each game all i find are two .uae files in opt/retropie/configs/amiga/amiberry/conf/
Where are the game .uae files located ? In the 2 .uae files i found like i mentioned I used key_for_quit=0
button_for_quit=7
I cannot find <RETROPIE>/roms/amiga-data/_BootWHD/Devs/Kickstarts
I searched all the directories so i cannot copy and rename the kickstarts like described but the 3 games i got they load. Why are these directories missing from my build ? amiga-data/_BootWHD/Devs/Kickstarts

Thank you.

youxia

@Mr-Spoc seems you're following the older version of the guide/advice, it was referring to previous versions of Amiberry. Things have changed recently, try reading these:
http://ultimateamiga.co.uk/HostedProjects/RetroPieAmiga/guide.html
https://github.com/midwan/amiberry/wiki/WHDLoad-Auto-booting

AnalogHero

@HoraceAndSpider One problem i see with with the way amiberry handles the quitkey combination is that whdload wont save hiscores. If done right you would have to use the quitkey defined in whdload, somehow catch this event and quit amiberry afterwards (with delay). Should i open an issue on github?

HoraceAndSpider

@analoghero said in [Amiga] Amiberry + WHDLoad = Holy Grail - Amiberry's official thread:

@HoraceAndSpider One problem i see with with the way amiberry handles the quitkey combination is that whdload wont save hiscores. I

Not true... the booter has 'NOWRITECACHE' enabled by default, so any highscores are saved instantly. This you can see the saved files for in the /configs/amiga/amiberry/save-data ... You'll also see the screen switch to black when this happens, which looks a little odd if it's say the IK+ high score screeen, but worth the 'price' imho

Without this, the behaviour is as you have stated... saves are cached until the quitkey is used.

AnalogHero

@horaceandspider Ahh i see. My fault then. I assumed it works like on real amiga :) Dont know if its slave related, but Elfmania has issues with amiberry. Although Preload is set, it looks like it does a lot of OS swaps.

HoraceAndSpider

@analoghero said in [Amiga] Amiberry + WHDLoad = Holy Grail - Amiberry's official thread:

I assumed it works like on real amiga :)

It does. I still use NOWRITECACHE on my real amigas too ;)

Dont know if its slave related, but Elfmania has issues with amiberry. Although Preload is set, it looks like it does a lot of OS swaps.

Probably this needs the default memory increased is all. Try increasing Z2 ram to 8mb (if it isnt already) and resetting the system for a reload.

HoraceAndSpider

looks like @nemo93 hasnt been online for a while, I wonder if it's possible for one of the mods to amend the first post with a few strike-throughs?

Mr Spoc

@youxia no i am not. That is the very guide i am using the latest one in your post. Again here is an extract from that very guide:
"Some games also require certain kickstart roms (Kickstart 1.3 and Kickstart 3.1 in particular) to be copied to the DEVS: section of the booting drive"

Like i mentioned in my post there is not /devs/ directory created.