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Old 07 August 2008, 19:20   #77
Charlie
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Nowhere
Age: 55
Posts: 1,792

Well done!
(sorry about the bit about the .gz - I'll blame my memory)

Installer scripts too, eh? Hmmm, It's a shame Amithlon is commercial software so I won't be able to ask you for a link to download your finished product...

Now: 'chipset integration'
Before we get to that don't forget to look further up this thread for Warp3D on Amithlon...

...oh, yes. Now chipset support is frankly a bit of a bodge & far from perfect integration but better than nothing.

1) You'll need a copy of 68k UAE - E-UAE for the latest bit's 'n bobs, but I'd recommend you use one of the older versions as they are MUCH quicker...
2) The 'trick' is to set up UAE to use your Amithlon's Sys: partition as it's own hard-drive...
...'but I've tried moving Sys: Partitions between UAE & Amthlon - it doesn't work! '. True - you'll need to add a few conditions to your system-startup file to check for what it's running on & take appropriate action with GFX & sound etc.
How you do this is up to you, Amithlon itself contains a utility to check for itself or there are similar utils to check for UAE.
3) So (after much struggle & swearing) you've got 68kUAE to boot from your Sys: partition - what next? Well, don't forget to add all your other partitions too. You now have a sort-of UAE clone of your Amithlon system within Amithlon.
4) Now you need to make a decision: How do I want stuff to behave?
For me the most unobtrusive way is to set 68kUAE to run on a separate screen by default - well a 'real' RTG Amiga would swap to a chipset screenmode if you run a game...
...again there's ways & ways but what I do is decide what apps/games are going to run with chipset support & alter their tool-types to have them run in UAE...
...You run your 'chipset app', it runs in UAE & flips to the 'chipset screen'. You can use the usual Amiga-like ways of moving between screens - I tend to have UAE run @ start-up so you don't have to wait for it to boot. You can even combine it with your favourite mode-promotion proggie for closer ties. Clipboard sharing should work too, though off-hand I can't remember if this needed extra work.

The advantages:
-With a bit of care + fiddling it works well enough.
-You're accessing the same install regardless of where you are so no worries about keeping bits up to date.
-Better than the real thing you don't have to worry about your chipset modes being slugged by RTG eye candy because this way you have the bonus of testing the environment on 'booting the chipset' so you don't have to have everything running.

The disadvantages:
-Far from perfect, though once it's functioning further tweaking will help.
-Fiendishly complicated system-startup file.
-Lots of memory wasted if you start UAE with Amithlon or v.slow loading of 'chipset apps' if you don't.

Gotcha's:
-A chipset Amiga won't want RTG or AHI etc drivers running.
-Watch your processor requirements: Older (faster) 68kUAEs are '020 emulators. Amithlon is '040 emulation - troubles can result if you're not careful.

Hope this helps.
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