FS-UAE Launcher

[FrodeSolheim]

A new development version has been released Changes in version 1.3.30:

• (Launcher) New list control implementation for configurations list.
• (Launcher) You can now type in the config list to jump to items.
• (Launcher) Configuration list items are prefixed with an icon.
• (Launcher) New setup page for importing kickstarts when starting the launcher for the first time.
• (Launcher) Automatically scan for rom changes in main Kickstarts folder on startup.
• (Launcher) Fixed backspace behaviour in config name text box.
• (Launcher) Windows installer: explicitly put registry keys in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes instead of HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.

The launcher now has a setup pane which is displayed when the launcher is started for the first time (or when no kickstarts are found) which lets you import ROMs from another folder or from an Amiga Forever CD/DVD. See attached screenshot.

I would appreciated if as many as possible would test this new feature, as this is what what new 2.0 users will see. To test, you can delete all rom files from the "Kickstarts" folder before starting the launcher. The launcher should detect that kickstarts are missing and display the setup page.

Originally Posted by nexusle

On OS X we still have this problem in list view...

Please try the new version! It has a new custom list view implementation.

[nexusle]

Hi Frode!

Yes. The list view bug is fixed! Excellent work!

BTW: On Mac OS X there is also an ability to make windows a little bit plastic like in the Linux screenshot above. Here is a example what I mean:



Is it possible to set this for Launcher on OS X?

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by nexusle

On Mac OS X there is also an ability to make windows a little bit plastic like in the Linux screenshot above. [...] Is it possible to set this for Launcher on OS X?

I assume you think specifically of the combined titlebar/toolbar, which I agree would look nicer. The launcher uses wxPython (wxWidgets) which itself does not support it as far as I know. I looked for a simple solution to it a while ago (for another project) but without success. It is possible it can be hacked around by manipulating the Carbon API directly.

[lesta_smsc]

FS-UAE supports IPF?! I'm not even sure if WinUAE does? ... I assume IPF would be 'original' disks!?

[nexusle]

Originally Posted by FrodeSolheim

I assume you think specifically of the combined titlebar/toolbar, which I agree would look nicer. The launcher uses wxPython (wxWidgets) which itself does not support it as far as I know.

PoEdit is also a wxWidgets application an does support this windows layout.

Look into screenshots ;0)

http://www.poedit.net/screenshots.php

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

FS-UAE supports IPF?! I'm not even sure if WinUAE does? ... I assume IPF would be 'original' disks!?

Yes, FS-UAE supports IPF images. WinUAE does too if the IPF support library is downloaded from http://www.softpres.org. The IPF library is bundled with FS-UAE for Windows and Mac, and for other systems it is a separate download.

Originally Posted by nexusle

PoEdit is also a wxWidgets application an does support this windows layout.

Hmm.. yes.. I checked it out a bit more, and the wxWidgets version in Macports was patched to disable wxMAC_USE_NATIVE_TOOLBAR (probably to make it more compatlble with all features of the wxToolBar API).

So I enabled it and managed to hack something which looks quite nice. The wx toolbar toggle buttons do not look good, so some more hacking needs to be done to have a nice selected tab effect. Perhaps just use normal toolbar buttons with icons with extra padding, and replace the icons with icons with a selection effect in the icon background when needed, instead of using the toggle buttons.

Anyway, see attached image for how it looks like now.

[ransom1122]

Congratulations on all the hard work you put into FS-UAE
The new features are great

[nexusle]

Perfect!! :0)

[FrodeSolheim]

A new development version has been released. Changes in version 1.3.31:

• (Launcher) Use native toolbar control on Mac.
• (Launcher) More consistent use of browse for file/folder icons.
• (Launcher) Automatically select CD32 Gamepad mode when selecting CD32 model.
• (Launcher) Recalculate default devices after editing joystick settings.
• (Launcher) Contract paths also when using multi-select.
• (Launcher) Media swap lists are now editable.
• (Launcher) Use proper list views for media swap lists.
• (Launcher) Replace other list controls with new implementation.
• (Launcher) Hide “WHDLoad Arguments” control.
• (Launcher) Updated translations: it [Speedvicio].

[nexusle]

Hi Frode,

with the latest Launcher new created configuration files are empty on Mac OS X. Only

"# FS-UAE configuration saved by FS-UAE Launcher"

will be saved!

Also: If I select a CDROM image only in media swap list and let the drive "empty", I have no chance to select it later in FS-UAE.

BTW: Nice new look!

[lesta_smsc]

Frode - any chance the FS-UAE can update via internet when new version available?

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by nexusle

Hi Frode,
with the latest Launcher new created configuration files are empty on Mac OS X. Only
"# FS-UAE configuration saved by FS-UAE Launcher"
will be saved!

Embarrasing bug, really. I forgot to finish a change I started last weekend. Will be nice to get some automated testing set up.

Updated version with fix is available here: http://fengestad.no/fs-uae/devel/1.3.31u2/

Originally Posted by nexusle

Also: If I select a CDROM image only in media swap list and let the drive "empty", I have no chance to select it later in FS-UAE.

Good point, hadn't thought about that. Will fix

EDIT: The following fixes will arrive in the next release:
* (Launcher) Implicitly add CD-ROM drive if CD image list is non-empty.
* (Launcher) Automatically add CDs in drives to image list if list is empty.

Originally Posted by nexusle

BTW: Nice new look!

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

Frode - any chance the FS-UAE can update via internet when new version available?

Yes, there is a chance at least But how to update is very specific to what download you chose to start with (zip vs exe on Windows), and for many systems the updates are done via package managers instead (many Linux distributions).

I had at least planned to integrate a "new version is available" notification in the launcher, and possibly in the FS-UAE menu as well. Automatically downloading update (*) is a possible step two, and automatically installing step three. The easiest distribution to install automatically will be Windows+installer.

(*) Automatically after user has asked the software to update, of course. Automatically updating this software is probably a bad idea since a user may wish to avoid a specific bug in the most recent release by running a slightly older version for a while, for instance.

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by nexusle

Also: If I select a CDROM image only in media swap list and let the drive "empty", I have no chance to select it later in FS-UAE.

Try 1.3.31u3 from http://fengestad.no/fs-uae/download-beta

Getting close to a 2.0 release now, I think -at least 2.0.0beta1...

[lesta_smsc]

"Yes, there is a chance at least But how to update is very specific to what download you chose to start with (zip vs exe on Windows), and for many systems the updates are done via package managers instead (many Linux distributions)"

Well - one way would be it overwrites the 'updated' files, and if that means all of them then it's fine Or even better... it will copy the existing FS-UAE into a 'backup' folder, and extract new version copying over the old files e.g. configs (i.e. those that FS-UAE does not have by default)

[ransom1122]

Looking forward to 2.0. Many thanks for the update leading to it.

[FrodeSolheim]

Version 2.0 is getting close now

Version 2.0.0beta1:
* Don't quit on parse error when parsing viewport option.
* (Launcher) Show notification about new versions in the same series (stable or devel) as the installed version.
* (Launcher) Added information panel to toolbar, currently used to show update notifications.
* (Launcher) Fix path issue on Windows causing kickstarts to be scanned on every startup.
* (Launcher) Updated downloadable WHDLoad version to 17.1.
* (Launcher) Added tooltips to main window tabs.
* (Launcher) Simplified default scan search path to just FS-UAE dir.
* (Launcher) Implicitly add CD-ROM drive if CD image list is non-empty.
* (Launcher) Automatically add CDs in drives to image list if list is empty.
* (Launcher) Fixed bug when saving configurations.
* (Launcher) Fixed type-ahead search bug in configuration list.

http://fengestad.no/fs-uae/download-beta

Originally Posted by lesta_smsc

Well - one way would be it overwrites the 'updated' files, and if that means all of them then it's fine Or even better... it will copy the existing FS-UAE into a 'backup' folder, and extract new version copying over the old files e.g. configs (i.e. those that FS-UAE does not have by default)

Of course, it's not very difficult in principle, just that there are many variations of FS-UAE distributions which makes it a bit of work (and also requires some thought in some cases).

But for now, the launcher at least now notifies the user of new versions and directs the user to the download page

[waal]

Thanks for this update, I've definitely adopted this launcher hehe.

Is it possible to load a zip file that contains multiple adf images ? I tend to organize my games this way. That could be nice if when I load an archive, the contained adf images are displayed in the swap list.

Also, where can I find informations about how to use the whdloadx feature and the game database ?

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by waal

Thanks for this update, I've definitely adopted this launcher hehe.

Is it possible to load a zip file that contains multiple adf images ? I tend to organize my games this way. That could be nice if when I load an archive, the contained adf images are displayed in the swap list.

This is not supported. Well, actually, the launcher does support this, but it won't let you select a zip file and do this automatically. But you edit a .fs-uae config file, you can use "file.zip/disk1.adf" to referer to disks inside zip files. Also, the scan function indexes floppy images inside zip files, so the database feature also works when disks are zipped (floppy images are extracted on demand).

It is possible to have the "Select Files" function detect a multi-floppy zip file and configure the launcher accordingly , but I have more or less a feature freeze for 2.0 now.

Originally Posted by waal

Also, where can I find informations about how to use the whdloadx feature and the game database ?

The built-in WHDLoad feature is not documented yet, and was primarily designed for the game database -but it works by itself. Here's how it works:

A zip file contained a zipped WHDLoad game is used as hard_drive_0. By itself, this would not boot. But when you the option "x_whdload_args" to something, FS-UAE launcher will, when launching, extract the zip file, and merge in WHDLoad files, kickstart images, and create startup scripts as necessary to create a bootable hard drive.

x_whdload_args must contain the name of the slave (without directory name, it will be found automatically) and any custom options you would like to use, for instance:

x_whdload_args = Lotus2.slave PRELOAD

(The GUI control for this setting was recently removed from the launcher for 2.0, but can be set manually in the "custom options" dialog

Regarding database for the launcher, see this page: http://fengestad.no/fs-uae/database. The database hasn't really caught on, but this could be because it is not very easy to get starting editing it and contributing.

I *think* I will improve the database support in upcoming 2.1.x versions, and may set up a combination of website and direct database editing capability (GUI) in the launcher, synchronizing with a central server for distributed editing. Something like a "Wikipedia version" of the database where anyone can contribute fixes, improvements and images to the entries. This will only be useful if a number of people are interested in testing configurations and submitting fixes through such as system, of course...

[FrodeSolheim]

Version 2.0.0beta33:
* (Launcher) When using the "select multiple files" function to select
a zip file with floppies, automatically selected the floppies within.
* (Launcher) Increased the width of the configuration dialogs.
* (Launcher) Include version number in titlebar.
* (Launcher) Fixed some missing translations.
* (Launcher) Updated translations: fr [Foul], de [nexusle].

http://fengestad.no/fs-uae/download-beta
(beta version number bumped to 33 mainly to get double digits, in case it is needed, and "2.0.0beta02" would be less than "2.0.0beta1").

Originally Posted by waal

Is it possible to load a zip file that contains multiple adf images ? I tend to organize my games this way. That could be nice if when I load an archive, the contained adf images are displayed in the swap list.

I wasn't planning to, but it was really easy to add support for this since most of the infrastructure were in place already. You can now use the "Select Multiple Files" function and select a single zip file containing several floppy images

[themagicm]

I'm using this under Linux.. FS Launcher is reporting that there is version 9.9.9 is available but I cannot find it.

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by themagicm

I'm using this under Linux.. FS Launcher is reporting that there is version 9.9.9 is available but I cannot find it.

I'm guessing you are using the source directly from the git repository, in which case the update series is named "unknown", and I have set 9.9.9 as the latest version for the unknown series for testing purposes (it does not exist). Releases use the "devel" or "stable" series. If you run "make dist", you'll get a source (sub-directory) with correct series/version.

[themagicm]

Originally Posted by FrodeSolheim

I'm guessing you are using the source directly from the git repository, in which case the update series is named "unknown", and I have set 9.9.9 as the latest version for the unknown series for testing purposes (it does not exist). Releases use the "devel" or "stable" series. If you run "make dist", you'll get a source (sub-directory) with correct series/version.

my bad.. not enough info for you.


I'm using the ubuntu version and ran:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:fengestad/devel
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install fs-uae fs-uae-launcher

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by themagicm

my bad.. not enough info for you.
I'm using the ubuntu version and ran:
sudo apt-add-repository ppa:fengestad/devel
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install fs-uae fs-uae-launcher

Oops -You're correct. Neither version number nor update series are correctly updated in the launcher source submitted to Ubuntu PPA (and OpenSUSE build service). This will be fixed in the next beta.

[bcripon]

Originally Posted by FrodeSolheim

Regarding database for the launcher, see this page: http://fengestad.no/fs-uae/database. The database hasn't really caught on, but this could be because it is not very easy to get starting editing it and contributing.

I *think* I will improve the database support in upcoming 2.1.x versions, and may set up a combination of website and direct database editing capability (GUI) in the launcher, synchronizing with a central server for distributed editing. Something like a "Wikipedia version" of the database where anyone can contribute fixes, improvements and images to the entries. This will only be useful if a number of people are interested in testing configurations and submitting fixes through such as system, of course...

Frode,

I use the game database. However, I do not know how to create new or edited entries. For instance, you have entries for Megaball 4, Deluxe Pacman, and Deluxe Galaga. However, I am using the HDF files that were included in Amiga Forever 2012 and your database does not recognize those.

I have moved my hand-made configurations to another folder if I can use the game database entry instead. That entry may have screenshots already included. Otherwise, I used your Python script to create the Links folder so I can add my own screenshots.


Bob C

[waal]

Originally Posted by FrodeSolheim

I wasn't planning to, but it was really easy to add support for this since most of the infrastructure were in place already. You can now use the "Select Multiple Files" function and select a single zip file containing several floppy images

Thanks !

[FrodeSolheim]

I created a poll to check the interest for improved game database features in the launcher. The thread includes a description of possible improvements. Please vote here if you are interested:

http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=66335
(you are also welcome to post comments there)

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by Dic_Ray

Cause the gamedata base is so useful for me, I hope the community could help to improve it step by step. How do you plan to implement changes but also avoiding wrong configurations transmitted from users? I would really like the possibility to drag and drop a new game, demo, cdtv or cd32-image in all it's formats and (language) versions and then rate for popularity and for best working settings. Also a graphical preview like iTunes cover view, would enhance the couch gaming experience. By the way, would it be possible to offer fs-uae as plugin for XBMC (XBox Media Center)? Look forward for all your great work an say thank you very much for all that.

Hi, I'll move your post over to the poll thread and answer your questions there

[Thomas Magnum]

Hi,

I've got a problem regarding the WHD recognization on OSX. Are there special librarys or additional files I have to install until the launcher could identify a WHD? I have tested various WHDs, but it always ends up with a CLI screen saying "runme.exe" Failed Returncode 10. I never used WHD before. I used both, zipped and unzipped archives.

Thanks.

Best,
Tom

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by Thomas Magnum

Hi, I've got a problem regarding the WHD recognization on OSX. Are there special librarys or additional files I have to install until the launcher could identify a WHD? I have tested various WHDs, but it always ends up with a CLI screen saying "runme.exe" Failed Returncode 10. I never used WHD before. I used both, zipped and unzipped archives.

Hi, please let me know more about what steps you have performed, what files you have used, etc. Attaching Launcher.log.txt and FS-UAE.log is also useful

[Thomas Magnum]

Hi Frode,

I attached the three logs (cleared before the latest testing) and a small jpg.

as said before - I really don't know if I did the correct handling of the whd. I tried the zipped one and the .info etc. as you can see.

Thanks,
best,
tom

[nexusle]

This is your Problem:

"floppy0=/fs-uae-KZ0mrv/CruiseForACorpse_v1.3_De_0676.zip"

This file must be configured as hardfile, not as floppy!

[Thomas Magnum]

oh ok. I thought this is recognized automatically and transformed to the correct volumes. I retry...

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by nexusle

This is your Problem:

"floppy0=/fs-uae-KZ0mrv/CruiseForACorpse_v1.3_De_0676.zip"

This file must be configured as hardfile, not as floppy!

Yes, nexusle is correct! -To use the special WHDLoad support in the launcher, you must select this zip file as the primary hard drive in the hard drive tab, but in addition, you must enable the WHDLoad feature:

Open the custom options dialog (toolbar icon number 7), and set

x_whdload_args = CruiseForACorpseDe.slave

- or whatever the name of the slave is (along with other WHDLoad slave options, if you want/need to specify any). When (and only when) x_whdload_args is set, WHDLoad is downloaded and merged with the content of the zip file along with startup scripts to make a bootable system.

This feature was developed for the game database support btw (but does not depend on it), which is why the WHDLoad arguments options is currently hidden away a bit. I don't want people to accidentally enable it without understanding what it does it for the 2.0 release The feature can be made more accessible, but I need to think a bit more about the usability first.

Some other points:
* some slaves need additional memory
* if the game does not need AGA or 14Mhz+ CPU, you might just as well use A600 -it will be easier for your system to emulate at least.

[Thomas Magnum]

Hi Frode, Nexusle

Thanks a lot! I did it - and it worked!! Quite cool! :-)

And yes - its a bit confusing, but I must admit I had no experience with this whd thing for now, because there was no need - and I have used an A600 now :-) For adventures its definately a good thing...

Regards,
Tom

[FrodeSolheim]

Version 2.0.0beta36 - http://fengestad.no/fs-uae/download-beta

* (Launcher) Re-enabled the GUI control for WHDLoad arguments.
* (Launcher) Added a help button for WHDLoad arguments control.
* (Launcher) Scan kickstarts/configs on start only if dir mtime has changed.
* (Launcher) fast_memory was always set to 8192 when running WHDLoad games.
* (Launcher) Updated translations: it [Speedvicio].

OK, so I re-added the control for WHDLoad arguments -but this time with a few changes:
* A help button linking to newly written documentation for the WHDLoad feature: http://fengestad.no/fs-uae/whdload-support
* If something is written there and a corresponding slave is not found when starting, a proper error is displayed

[grimi]

Hi, Frode. It's possible to import optionally build-in configurations ?
If not, can you implement this feature to the launcher ? Thanks.

[FrodeSolheim]

FS-UAE 2.1.2 is released with several new useful launcher features. Many common FS-UAE options can now be configured within the Launcher settings dialog. I will expand the number of options in the future.

Please do test the new version, and if you have some more settings you put in "Custom Settings" which has not got its own UI yet), let me know here, and I'll prioritize adding the common ones

Note for translators: there are several new strings in the Launcher now (related to the new options). If you don't want extra work, you can wait to start translating until later in the 2.1.x cycle. Of course, if you do want to have the launcher updated with translations right now, and don't mind a bit extra work if I change texts later on, feel free to send me translations any time!

Originally Posted by grimi

Hi, Frode. It's possible to import optionally build-in configurations? If not, can you implement this feature to the launcher? Thanks.

Available in settings ("Scan & Indexing") as of version 2.1.2 -You need to run the scan function afterwards.

[FrodeSolheim]

Notice: I moved the three latest post over to the online database thread, as I think the posts (and likely follow-ups) is more relevant there.

[Philantrop]

The launcher 2.1.9 (first noticed in 2.1.8) seems to have some unicode issue:

using key file /home/x/emulation/amiga/fs-uae/Kickstarts/rom.key
found encrypted rom 700b56b6eaae1d55dfe37fe7512c2faee53b601d => ba10d16166b2e2d6177c979c99edf8462b21651e
/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/fs_uae_launcher/FileScanner.py:92: UnicodeWarning: Unicode equal comparison failed to convert both arguments to Unicode - interpreting them as being unequal
  if name in [".git"]:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/fs_uae_launcher/Scanner.py", line 46, in scan_thread
    cls._scan_thread()
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/fs_uae_launcher/Scanner.py", line 82, in _scan_thread
    scanner.scan()
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/fs_uae_launcher/FileScanner.py", line 70, in scan
    self.scan_dir(database, dir)
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/fs_uae_launcher/FileScanner.py", line 96, in scan_dir
    self.scan_dir(database, path)
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/fs_uae_launcher/FileScanner.py", line 96, in scan_dir
    self.scan_dir(database, path)
  File "/usr/lib64/python2.7/site-packages/fs_uae_launcher/FileScanner.py", line 94, in scan_dir
    path = os.path.join(dir, name)
  File "/usr/bin/../../etc/env.d/alternatives/python2/_current/usr/bin/../../../../../../../usr/bin/../../etc/env.d/alternatives/python2/_current/usr/bin/../../../../../../../usr/lib64/python2.7/posixpath.py", line 71, in join
    path += '/' + b
UnicodeDecodeError: 'ascii' codec can't decode byte 0xc4 in position 2: ordinal not in range(128)

Any ideas, Frode?

[FrodeSolheim]

It may not be a bug, it could be also be that the file does not have the expected file name encoding on disk (since Linux file names are really just byte arrays, could contain text in any character set..). Some more information is needed. Please edit FileScanner.py and insert a line (in bold):

            if self.stop_check():
                return
            if name in [".git"]:
                continue
            print(repr(dir), repr(name))
            path = os.path.join(dir, name)

and then retry the scan function. The internal representation of the file names will then be logged, so please post the few lines right before the stack trace with this change.