WinUAE questions and problems! NEED HELP FROM EMULATION GURUS!

[redrumloa]

I am trying to get WinUAE working again. The newest version works near perfect for just playing games, but I still cannot get it to work with any JIT settings :-x

I am using WinUAE version xxx with encrypted roms and OS3.9 installation folder(HD is simply a folder on the Wintendo HD) from a old version of Amiga Forever I own. No matter what settings I tinker with in CPU settings, if I turn on JIT it crashes after very soon after starting emulation. If I load A-Org in AWeb it crashes every time for example.

Questions:
1) Is using a dedicated harddrive preferable to just a folder on the Wintendo drive? Is this causing some of the problems?

1a) The OS3.9 installation hasn't been used since a few years back under an old version of AmigaForever. Is this suspect? Reinstall from scratch?

2)Is there some problem with the older encrypted Amiga Forever 3.1 ROM?

3)What your recomended CPU etc settings for my system?

Suggestions and any help appreciated. I am looking to get this emulation tweaked ASAP. I am missing the enviorment and alot of my software that I can't use since I sold/gave away all of dying/prehistoric hardware. No NextGen Amiga anytime soon, and there is no legal Amithlon on the market so WinUAE wins by default

My PC specs:
MSI KT333 Ultra2
AthlonXP 2000 (no OC)
256Meg DDR 333MHZ CLK2.5
All-In-Wonder-VE
Sound Blaster Live!
WinXP Pro
40Gig WD 7200RPM (NTFS)

Thanks in advance

[redrumloa]

WinUAE with that computer and p96 installed should fly...

It does, right before it crashes..

What do you normally get 020 at 150Mhz?

Dunno, the only test I have run so far is old Systest and it reports 42X the speed of an A4000/040. What is the best benchmark out there right now? I havn't been paying attention..i know there is a new one, forget the name?

Worth reinstalling directX again...

On XP? Really? Will try.

BTW ibrowse is what i use.

I only have AwebSE(or the open source freebie) and a Voyager keyfile. I don't own a modern Ibrowse :-(

[redrumloa]

Heh, well, AWeb at amiga.org has been crashing on hardware Amigas as of late too. Someone traced it to some image that shows up before logging in that crashes it.

Ahh, that makes sense.

Turn off images when you load amiga.org, then log in, then turn the images back on to bypass it for now.

Cool, will try. Also will try Ibrowse and Voyager.

Now, WinUAE does give me guru's with OS3.9 Boing Bag 2 some times when I first start out, but a soft boot gets it past it for me.

Hmm..I don't THINK I installed BB2 on it.. Been awhile..

Anything specific you notice when it dies?

Well if I try to run freecell (freebie off Aminet) the system simply locks up completely, WinUAE not WintendoXP that is. I even had it just exit without warning a few times simply browsing the HD, but that may have been when I was trying with FPU enabled..

I'm going to try a few of the suggestions mentioned here as soon as I get home. Thanks to you and blobrana for the help. I'll let you 2 know how it goes.

[redrumloa]

Well, WinUAE can be tricky to diagnose.

So I've seen :-o

However I would try using a vanilla AmigaOS3.9 bootfile. From your description of your setup it sounds as if the AmigaOS files are in a FAT32/NTFS folder?

Ok will try. Yes they are in a NTFS folder.

I have found that there are cases where certain file names or file locks can cause problems when you are accessing a native Windows filesystem.

Umm.. Sounds like my problem with Payback.

Anyway, good luck!

Thanks for the info!!

[redrumloa]

Update, I took much of the advice here and started from scratch. That did it I think, I'm getting there:-D I'm in the tweaking mode ATM, and BOY does it fly!!! WinUAE certainly is maturing!! It's just a crying shame Bernithlon isn't for sale... Oh well WinUAE sure will hold me over, maybe indefinately...

So, thanks again! I finally am able to play Payback again, and it FLIES!

OK, two question though.

1) The first time I launch WinUAE, I get GURU after GURU. I have to insert the (virtual) emergency recovery disk and boot it. Once I boot that, I can eject it(virtually) and warmboot over and over with no problems whatsoever. Any ideas? Setpatch issue?

2)The CDROM support still seems a little buggy. I am using OS3.9's CDROM device. I set maxtransfer to 0x1FFF and it still locks up under certain circumstances.

Overall, were doing great :-D

[redrumloa]

On the other hand, I never got Payback to work. (the demo) The loading screen comes up and then *poof* I'm kicked back to the desktop. Any suggestions to that one?  

Are you using the most recent WinUAE and the most recent Payback demo archive? Did you run "payback Setup"?

[redrumloa]

Desolator wrote:
Yup, Yup, and Yup, although I selected a lower screenresolution than my WB, which I heard could be the problem. :\

Sounds like you should follow the suggestions given in this thread also:-) I had similar problems.

1)Reinstall DirectX 8
2)Start from scratch with new WinUAE install
3)Fresh OS3.9 install on fresh formated dedicated HD or hardfile.

2 and 3 worked for me!

[redrumloa]

Why the hell you simply use an old good Hardware Amiga?

I did until ~9 months ago, I had a nice system. The problem is the hardware is so very old now, and UAE is getting so mature to the point it is IMO a more viable alternative to the real thing. This isn't your father's emulator;-) Trust me, I had a OC'ed 060, Prometheus/Voodoo3, Delina, 10Mbit nic w/DSL etc etc you name it. WinUAE is certainly faster, and I am finding that overall it may be more useful now.