More seamless e-uae integration with Linux

[gdanko]

My goal was to be able to play my old games pretty seamlessly without having to mess with .uaerc, GUI configs, etc. I wanted to be able to doubleclick on an .adf image and start playing my game.  Using OS4 would require an expensive investment in hardware and software. MorphOS is not ready for day to day use and I can't justify 150 EU for it.

This is what I've gotten so far.

I created a custom build of uae, both 32 and 64 bit,  that does not include the GUI. What I noticed is that if I close the UAE window when I am finished with the game the GUI would pop up. I don't want this.

I configured Gnome to open .adf files with /usr/local/e-uae/scripts/launch.sh. The name of the adf is passed to the shell script. The shell script then looks at the filename and maps it to df0. It looks for any other disks of the same name (Disk 1, Disk 2, etc) and maps them to df1, df2, etc.

Common configuration options (cpu, memory, etc) are set as variables in the script.

Your game is launched with all of the drives mounted and you can play away. When you're finished with your game you close the UAE window and you're all finished.

Would anybody be interested in testing this? For now you have to manually do the mapping of the .adf file type to the launch.sh script. I am going to find out how to do this and make it automatic.

[koshman]

You bet we we would be interested. This sounds awesome. Great work!

[gdanko]

You bet we we would be interested. This sounds awesome. Great work!

Thanks, koshman. Once I am confident the multi disk thing is working correctly I will create an install script and make both versions available. I will have a shell script installer so I don't have to maintain packages for every distro out there.

I think it's basically how AROS and MorphOS handle it. I am told you have to install e-uae on MorphOS to be able to play the old games. This is kind of silly. I had been led to believe the support existed and all you had to do was 2x click the game's binary.

Send me a PM if interested in getting a copy.

[Amiga_Nut]

Fantastic work, sounds like a fantastic idea

I'd offer to help but I don't have a Linux box now.

[Piru]

I am told you have to install e-uae on MorphOS to be able to play the old games. This is kind of silly.

Do you have any suggestion on as how this should be handled by MorphOS itself? Mind you, KS ROM is copyrighted material so even if UAE was included in the OS itself you still wouldn't be able to run any old games out of the box.

I had been led to believe the support existed and all you had to do was 2x click the game's binary.

You can easily configure E-UAE so that doubleclicking the adf launches the game.

Wait, doesn't that sound exactly like what you're doing for linux here? How silly!

[Karlos]

Do you have any suggestion on as how this should be handled by MorphOS itself? Mind you, KS ROM is copyrighted material so even if UAE was included in the OS itself you still wouldn't be able to run any old games out of the box.

Isn't there an open kickstart replacement being developed as part of the AROS project?

[Piru]

Isn't there an open kickstart replacement being developed as part of the AROS project?

Not that I am aware. It has been planned for a decade I bet.

[Karlos]

Not that I am aware. It has been planned for a decade I bet.

I dunno, I recall someone talking about it, though I can't recall who or how long ago. Getting old sucks :lol:

[Karlos]

Hmm, this posting is recent:

http://utilitybase.com/forum/index.php?action=vthread&forum=6&topic=1967

[gdanko]

You can easily configure E-UAE so that doubleclicking the adf launches the game.

Wait, doesn't that sound exactly like what you're doing for linux here? How silly!

I tried that, it did not work. I was told by a MorphOS developer that you have to do a few things in order for this work. Even moreso than simply associated .adf files with e-uae. Also, how do I suppress the GUI? How do I get e-uae to mount all the other disks? I am open to your suggestions as it would seem you one up on all of us here.

[Piru]

I tried that, it did not work

I bet you'll make it work every time out of the box in no time. Have fun with end-users :-)

[AmigaHeretic]

I tried that, it did not work. I was told by a MorphOS developer that you have to do a few things in order for this work. Even moreso than simply associated .adf files with e-uae. Also, how do I suppress the GUI? How do I get e-uae to mount all the other disks? I am open to your suggestions as it would seem you one up on all of us here.

I may be way off base and don't know cmd line options of euae so if I sound like an idiot ignore this post.


What I would think is a small script xIcon style or something.  Take Agony, for example, which I think was 4 disks?

something like, e-uae -ECS  -1megchip -1megfast -windowed -640x400 -disk1=agony1.adf -disk2=agony2.adf -disk3=agony3.adf -disk4=agony4.adf


Obviously those arguments of completely made up, but I'd imagine there is something close.  Make an icon for the script and have the adf's in the same drawer and bam!  Just double click to run Agony.  

This would require a script file for each game, so maybe you are thinking of something not so tedious?  I like to do stuff the hardware I suppose.  :-)

[Crumb]

@gdanko

did you read my reply? Yahoo works perfectly on OWB http://www.amiga.org/forums/showpost.php?p=560904&postcount=11

[gdanko]

At this point everything is working. If I doubleclick on, say, "Pirates! Gold (Disk 1 of 2).adf", the script goes and finds all of the other disks and adds them to the list of disks to open. The game fires up and all the disks are there.

I am having one small hurdle that I would appreciate input on. Some games are using WB 1.3 so KS 3.1 will not work. I could assume AGA globally and it should be able to play ECS games (or can it?). In a MorphOS or even OS 4.1 scenario, how do you accommodate the myriad of combinations?

Perhaps I can have something like launch13.pl and launch31.pl. Both could be associated with type .adf and you could choose the one you think you need? Hmmm...

[runequester]

I imagine the simplest would either be some sort of "system select" screen, or just have different executables.