Catweasel S-class and WHDLoad conflict.

[x56h34]

After installing the Castweasel S-Class ZII (the one with Buddha controller on it, as well) and all the necessary software for it, I've noticed that all of my WHDLoad installed games refuse to work. What happens is, as soon as I start a WHDLoad game, seconds after the native screen takes over, I get a freeze. It would just sit there (black screen) unless I hit the quit key to return to OS3.9.
I know that Catweasel takes over some (or all?) floppy related system functions, and I can only assume that WHDLoad is relying on those to be normal, e.g. the same as before I've installed any Catweasel software.

What should I do to make WHDLoad work again? Any tips? Thanks.

[adolescent]

Remove the catweasel, or find a way to disable the software when you play games.  WHDLoad has a problem with hardware that generates interrupts.  The same thing happens if I keep Genesis online and try to play a game.  It will start, but then freeze shortly after.

[x56h34]

Damn. I really like the Catweasel. I'd hate to see it go. I like WHDLoad even more, so it's a tough choice... :-(

[adolescent]

Try killing the software first.  On the netcards it's only when the stack is running.  Here's the note from the FAQ:

There is a general problem with all extra hardware connected to the Amiga which generates Interrupts at random or regular times. An example is my network card (Hydra). If I have my TCP/IP stack running, nearly every installed program will freeze after a short time because the card creates PORTS interrupts (the same type as interrupts created by the keyboard) which cannot correctly replied to by the installed program. This is because as soon as the request has been acknowledged with an rte, the next interrupt occurs. To avoid this problem, the TCP/IP stack must be stopped before starting WHDLoad.

Maybe Jens can confirm this is the case, and offer a solution?

[x56h34]

How would I go about removing the software? I've already tried disabling everything that starts automatically that involves Catweasel or Buddha, e.g. the Floppy/CD mountlists and BuddhaSpeed removed from WBStartup.

What do I need to do to completely remove the installation? I am not sure I remember the names and location of all Catweasel/Buddha related files/libraries. An uninstallation script would be nice. :-)

[Mad-Matt]

try the NoAutoVec tooltype. It helped when i had the Twister MKII serial port installed.

[x56h34]

Thanks for the advice Mad-Matt. I think I've tried just about any tool-type tags for WHDLoad, however I'll give it another try and see.

[EdKing]

None of the Buddha software will cause WHDLoad not to work. I have a Buddha in my
system and WHDLoad works fine. It must be something in the Catweasel software
causing your problem. Look in the WBStartup drawer and maybe in the devs:dosdrivers
to see if the Catweasel put anything there.

Ed King

[x56h34]

Hi Ed.

I've already removed all mounlists from Devs: that are related to the S-class card. It's good to know that the Buddha part of it is not the culprit. I've suspected this, originally. Thanks for the info. :-)

I'd like to see more tips before I actually remove the whole card from the system.

[leirbag28]

@x56h34

 Try Using SnoopDos,....it tells you almost everything that the particular program in question accesses.....then when it freezes, you can see the last access your computer made before freezing!

I had a problem once running SCALA, and it would freeze everytime I started it..........I ran SnoopDos and saw that SCALA was accessing the serial Port looking for a MIDI interface..........well I had something else on the serial port at the time so I removed the MIDI EX file from the SCALA startup drawer and problem was solved!  great program that SnoopDOS

What you could do is start your Catweasel (with SnoopDOS running) to see what programs it uses if you want to disable them..........if that don't work, have SnoopDOs active and run a WHDLoad game and see what it loads and when it crashes...............If you have the Registered version of WHDLoad and this trick still doesnt work, then remove the WHDLoad key temporarily from the drawer it is accessed in and try loading a game again ( you will get the WHDLoad blue splash window) so access to the game will take more time and may give SnoopDOS more time to se whats going on.

Hope that works!
 if not........try other Amiga System Monitors.

[EdKing]

One more thing I thought of, do you have the Catweasel hooked up to your Amiga floppy,
or floppy connector on the motherboard ? Maybe the Catweasel is sending a hardware
interupt that way and it's messing up WHDLoad that way.

Ed King
 

[x56h34]

Catweasel goes to a zorro slot.
From the motherboard a floppy a cable goes to Kylwalda boot adapter, then this adapter chains to Catweasel. Without Kylwalda I would not have a bootable DF0:, as you cannot boot directly from a Catweasel connected floppy, at cold boot (that's why Individual Computers released this boot adapter). :-)

[EdKing]

From the motherboard a floppy a cable goes to Kylwalda boot adapter, then this adapter chains to Catweasel.

This would be my guess as to your problem. Same reason Amiga drives click with no floppy in them. The Catwaesel/Kylwalda combo is sending a drive seek interupt and messing up WHDLoad. Did you try running your games with a blank floppy inserted in the drive ? It is a longshot but it might work, or maybe one of the noclick utils.

Ed King

[EzdineG]

x56h34 wrote:
I've already removed all mounlists from Devs: that are related to the S-class card. It's good to know that the Buddha part of it is not the culprit. I've suspected this, originally. Thanks for the info. :-)

I'd like to see more tips before I actually remove the whole card from the system.

Hmmmmmm.... I have similar troubles after I install BB2 on my 4000D and I'm not using the Buddha.  If you're using it, back the Rom update off to the previous version and try again.  LMK