BlizKick OS3.9 Custom ROM Troubles

[eva]

Hi!

I have used the following guide:

• http://www.mfilos.com/2010/12/guide-...kickstart.html

to cook a custom ROM at v44.57.

When I try to kick it from BlizKick, I get a software failure with error number #80000008 followed by a guru error number 78132480.

Compared to the tutorial, I have used:

• mathffp.library and mathieeesingbas.library from the A1200 stock ROM.
• the scsi.device from the v44.57 ROM (for A1200)
• added workbench.library from BB3&4

I have tried both byte-swapped and not byte-swapped modes and I always get the some error.

My test line that I used to kick the resulting rom is:

BlizKick >NIL: KickFile DEVS:Kickstarts/kick3.9.A1200

Unfortunately, no dice, I get the same error and it just refuses to kick the ROM.

Any clue as to what is going on?

[eva]

Further to this, I have also tried to create just a 512K ROM as per the A4000: I removed 1MB_ROM and added WBFind and copied workbench.library to SYS:Libs/

This time BlizKick does not throw error #80000008, it kicks fine but then I get a guru meditation 780095B0 after the reboot. I have even accessed the menu and selected "Boot without Startup-Sequence" and it still shows that guru and reboots.

[eva]

Ok, I figured that one out. The scsi.device from the v44.57 was the problem. I now rebaked and used the scsi.device from "that long thread on EAB suggesting a patched scsi.device could support large drives".

Now I get a ramlib error #8000000B.

I am enjoying my monologue. I'll figure this out; you watch.

[eva]

Ok, going further, I copied the SetPatch from AmigaOS 3.9 to C:SetPatch and then modified the line in S:Startup-Sequence to read:

C:SetPatch NOCACHE QUIET

It now boots to Workbench but I cannot click any icons. :-)

[NovaCoder]

Hiya,

You don't actually need to create a ROM.

BlizKick is clever and can create a custom ROM on the fly for you.

Basically you rip your 3.9 updates from your SETPATCH ROM, then mix and match your own updates from the boing bags and load them all up at start-up without needing a reset.

It's all in the BlizKick readme BTW

This will give you some ideas -> Blizzy Startup

[eva]

Hi Nova! Thanks for the response. I've been on and off playing with creating ROMs. I'm now more of an expert than I intended to be...

May I ask, in your startup-sequence, what exactly does BlizKick refer to when it says:

DEVS:rom_v45.57

is that a file "rom_v45.57"? I think I realise now: it's a directory where you dumped the files from the OS3.9 rom updates?

Also, I've been having mixed experiences by using the WB3.1 SetPatch vs the OS3.9 SetPatch (found in BB2). May I ask which SetPatch you are using? I'll just use the BB2 one for now.

With the SetPatch found on the OS3.9 CD, my icon borders disappear. Not sure if that's how it's supposed to be... or?

Great. Time to dump the ROMs again... I'll check back in a few!

Thank you!

P.S. Why did you leave out the new workbench.library?

[eva]

Yeah, still no dice:

I have copied all the files from NovaCoder's startup-sequence to a directory, then changed the BlizKick line like so:

BlizKick >NIL: KickFile DEVS:Kickstarts/kick40068.A1200 EXTRESBUF=150000 MODULE DEVS:kick3.9/exec.library DEVS:kick3.9/bootmenu DEVS:kick3.9/FileSystem.resource DEVS:kick3.9/ram-handler DEVS:kick3.9/scsi.device DEVS:kick3.9/console.device DEVS:kick3.9/shell BBlank NoClick LocalFast MoveVBR SpeedyIDE QUIET

and we're back to software failure with error #80000008.

EDIT: Ok, I managed to kick it now. :-) Thanks!

[NovaCoder]

Originally Posted by eva

Hi Nova! Thanks for the response. I've been on and off playing with creating ROMs. I'm now more of an expert than I intended to be...

May I ask, in your startup-sequence, what exactly does BlizKick refer to when it says:

is that a file "rom_v45.57"? I think I realise now: it's a directory where you dumped the files from the OS3.9 rom updates?

That's my 3.1 ROM

Originally Posted by eva

P.S. Why did you leave out the new workbench.library?

Because I don't need it. The only significant change is that is supports 3.0 (AFAIK).

[eva]

Originally Posted by NovaCoder

Because I don't need it. The only significant change is that is supports 3.0 (AFAIK).

The only reason I'm going nuts with this is to get some nice default icons in Workbench when icons do not have an .info file. IconChief has issues when opening folders for the second time and the OS3.1 version of DefIcons lacks both a configuration and you get a very annoying prompt to "run the file" - regardless what the file is.

Now I see that DefIcons for OS3.9 does not want to start when I double-click it. Ugh...
I also notice that ToolsDaemon has stopped working. Nice. Business as usual...
Icons have their borders removed. Great - now I'll have to figure out a way to get them back.

[amigasith]

Originally Posted by eva

Great - now I'll have to figure out a way to get them back.

Have you checked IconFramesON from Peter's great icon.library here?

[eva]

Originally Posted by amigasith

Have you checked IconFramesON from Peter's great icon.library here?

Hi! Yes. Thanks. I use the icon.library from that package too. Didn't know about IconFramesON though. Nifty!

I was trying to get SYS:Prefs/Workbench to work from BB.

For reference, if anybody stumbles on this thread: do not use KickControl / KickPrefs - it apparently is not able to handle long lines such as the ones needed by BlizKick. It will end-up truncating the line to a "manageable size" which confuses BlizKick and leads to #80000008 software failure again.

[eva]

I wish I could do something like:

BlizKick MODULE Devs:kick3.9/#?

in order to get rid of the long lines...

[daxb]

Have a look into BlizKick.guide (click "Usage" buttion). There you can read how to use MODULES. There exists a default module path ("DEVS:Modules") which can be changed be set a environment variable called BKMODPATH. With this you can shrink you Blizkick command line a lot.

[eva]

Originally Posted by daxb

Have a look into BlizKick.guide (click "Usage" buttion). There you can read how to use MODULES. There exists a default module path ("DEVS:Modules") which can be changed be set a environment variable called BKMODPATH. With this you can shrink you Blizkick command line a lot.

Thanks! I did not use the BKMODPATH but I backed-up Modules and dumped the OS3.9 bits into Modules. I tried BKMODPATH, did the setenv / copied to ENVARC: but apparently BlizKick did not want to load them. I will try again.

It still scratches my brain since I am now mixing BlizKick modules with OS stuff like .library and .device. I'm a tidiness freak.

Would have loved to have them separated, perhaps something like:

BlizKick * MODULES Devs:kick3.9/#? LIBS:kick3.9/#? NoClick BBlank etc...

Something to suggest to the author... BlizKick seems to be just a command so it should not be too difficult to implement "#?" using Amiga libraries.

[daxb]

I guess loading Modules from two or more different places without using full path isn`t supported. There is an option called IGNPATH which load the modules relative to current directory but this may not help.

[matthey]

Originally Posted by eva

It still scratches my brain since I am now mixing BlizKick modules with OS stuff like .library and .device. I'm a tidiness freak.

Would have loved to have them separated, perhaps something like:

BlizKick * MODULES Devs:kick3.9/#? LIBS:kick3.9/#? NoClick BBlank etc...

Something to suggest to the author... BlizKick seems to be just a command so it should not be too difficult to implement "#?" using Amiga libraries.

This may look more organized to a user but it's a lot of work and messy to do at boot time. Adding all the AmigaOS fixed modules in Remus and then adding Remus BK_mods at the end (these get applied instead of added to the ROM) is much cleaner than BlizKick with a bunch of modules on the command line. Most of the Blizkick modules are outdated when using the fixed AmigaOS 3.9 modules anyway.

My BlizKick line in my S:Startup-Sequence is:

BlizKick Devs:My3000.ROM QUIET

I used the Remus BK_mods "NoClick" and "Patchmath020_All" from the Remus/BK_Mods directory which are permantly applied to the created ROM.

[eva]

Originally Posted by matthey

Adding all the AmigaOS fixed modules in Remus and then adding Remus BK_mods at the end (these get applied instead of added to the ROM) is much cleaner than BlizKick with a bunch of modules on the command line.

Yeah, the problem is that BlizKick does not support 1MB ROMs and I want to keep DEVS: and LIBS: clean of updated devices and libraries that should be in the ROM or they are updates to the ROM itself (or I will eventually lose track of them).

I have toyed with Remus around but given the 512k constraint, there are a lot of libraries that cannot be replaced (ie: the updated graphics.library, intuition.library, icon.library and scsi.device) since they would go over the 512k. For a soft-kick, it's rather strange that BlizKick does not support 1MB ROMs... It's just a file anyway and does not need to fit on a chip...

There are several BlizKick modules that I find necessary: BBlank (to make the margin black), NoClick (to remove the click), ColdResetCard (for the PCMCIA fix), etc... They could be replaced by other tools from the Startup-Sequence but there are some like NoClick that I would like to have regardless whether I am booting from the HDD or from floppies.

[matthey]

Originally Posted by eva

I have toyed with Remus around but given the 512k constraint, there are a lot of libraries that cannot be replaced (ie: the updated graphics.library, intuition.library, icon.library and scsi.device) since they would go over the 512k. For a soft-kick, it's rather strange that BlizKick does not support 1MB ROMs... It's just a file anyway and does not need to fit on a chip...

The BlizKick ROM does need to fit in MAPROM which only supports 512kB ROMs on most accelerators. Remus can make 1MB ROMs. There are Kick boards and hacks to add 1MB ROMs. Newer FPGA accelerators will likely support 1MB MAPROM because AROS uses a 1MB KickStart.

I have enough room in a 512kB Kickstart after leaving out workbench.library. There isn't any easy way to squeeze the new workbench.library in and it's not really a problem leaving it out.

Originally Posted by eva

There are several BlizKick modules that I find necessary: BBlank (to make the margin black), NoClick (to remove the click), ColdResetCard (for the PCMCIA fix), etc... They could be replaced by other tools from the Startup-Sequence but there are some like NoClick that I would like to have regardless whether I am booting from the HDD or from floppies.

If you add the NoClick mod in the Remus/BK_mods directory to the ROM you create (at the end) in Remus, the patch will be added to the ROM when you create it in Remus and there is no need to have it in your S:Startup-Sequence BlizKick line. The same is true for all the Remus BK_Mods. It should be possible to convert most if not all of the BlizKick mods to Remus BK_Mods. IMO, it's better to fix the ROM once than apply patches every time on cold boots.

[hardwir3d]

I've been trying to make my own ROM for Blizkick using Remus aswell. So far I haven't been successful getting WinUAE to boot using a custom ROM. I've tried about everything. Put in the exec first, then other modules, and wbfind to point at SYS:workbench.library. I guess I've tried 15 or 20 different combo's in all by now. Not a single go. Then I read something about the order of modules after exec.library also being important. Is that the case? If so, what would be the correct build order? The Mfilos guide only give alphabetical lists, as does ROMSplit. I've even tried creating a custom ROM using a sort command on the datestamps of the ROMSplit directory which did indeed put exec.library on top. But no go again. Even tried the byte-swap for...well dunno actually. Even when trying to rebuild the same ROM, with exactly the same modules using alpha or datestamp order produces a HALT3 in WinUAE.

What the heck am I missing mates, that's so obvious to about everyone else on here?

And BTW: what's with this site and Chrome?

[daxb]

Did you test with an unchanged ROM file? If that works just make one change and try again.