WHDLOAD problem on my A1200+BPPC

[Eco]

I've tried to run a bunch of WHDLOAD games from BTTR but not many seem to be working for me. Over 90% of the games I've end up with the following kind of error message when starting:

Exception "Access Fault" ($7008)
PC = $59E83450 (Resload $1450)
Long Write to $7FFFD

Trying any or all of the normal compatibility tooltypes is not helping this error at all:

PRELOAD
NOAUTOVEC
NOVBRMOVE
NOCACHE
NOCHIPCACHE
PAL

I know the 040 is probably the worst choice in the compatibility sense, but it can't be this bad..?

My hardware configuration is as follows:

1.d4 A1200 with 3.1 roms
OS 3.9 with BB2
BPPC 040/25 & 603e/200, 96MB ram
BVision
ZIV busboard

[Eco]

Yes, I run blizkick, but I haven't used the SpeedyIde module, so it's not that.

I'll have to do some more tests on the games I have, but cursory testing of 10 games resulted in exactly the same error with NOCACHE and NOAUTOVEC tooltypes.

I think it could be something else going on..

[Eco]

I know that WHDLOAD only supports originals; I've been trying out ready-made installs and my stack of original games, but success rate has been very slim.

I'll try the chippy cachy tooltype some more when I get home from work today. Maybe it'm spelling it wrong..

[Eco]

The correct spelling for the tooltype is indeed ChipNoCache, but it doesn't do me any good with this error. I still get the Access Fault I described earlier, almost every game fails with it.

[Eco]

Okay, here goes:

Alien Breed Tower Assault
Chaos Engine 2 AGA
Deuteros (installer v1.9)
Elfmania (installer v1.2)
Future Tank
James Pond 2 AGA (installer v1.2)
Project X SE (installer v1.2)
Turrican 2

I've tried a lot more but these ones I have on my hard drive currently.

As for working games, Pinball Dreams works OK, as well as SuperCars II.

[Eco]

Thanks for testing the games on your setup; at least I know that they can run on this hardware

Now for the process of elimination. Better take a backup first though..

[Eco]

Progress! I can now play whdload games without the Access Fault when I do this:

1. Disable the BPPC by holding down the "2" key during boot
2. Boot without startup-sequence
3. Use whdload from cli

Booting without startup-sequence, but having the BPPC enabled, results in the "Access Fault" when using whdload.

So I guess it's my BPPC then? Do you think this can be helped? Or am I doomed to disable my BPPC (losing all the fastmem) when I want to play old games?

[Eco]

I'm a bit worried about the fact that even after a boot with no startup-sequence, WHDLoad will give me "Access Errors" if the BPPC is enabled.

I'm already booting the system with no PPC apps running or TCP/IP stack; no help if BPPC is enabled. And naturally I can't boot into 3.9 if I disable it..

[Eco]

I don't know what the connection is, but when my BPPC is plugged in and enabled, the following always happens:

1. Most WHDLoaded games fail with the "long write" error.
2. Neither of my zorro cards work (x-surf II and GVP SCSI controller)

When I yank out the BPPC or disable it, WHDLoad magically starts working and my zorro cards are happy again.

I'd like to emphasize that the BPPC is perfectly functional and stable, hours of MP3 or GLQuake do not crash it. Airflow is plentiful and connectors are clean. Just re-flashed it too.

Can anything be done about this? I'm considering selling the BPPC+BVision and going for a 030+graphic card combo.