experimental uae for linux ( & mac too?? )

[mtb]

I have recently found an interesting attempt to update the linux version of uae @ http://www.rcdrummond.net/uae/ .

UAE, the open source Amiga emulator popularized by its Windows port, WinUAE (and the commercial package Amiga Forever), has been left to stagnate on the Unix platform. It hasn't seen an update in well over year, while WinUAE is updated regularly with new features and bug fixes.

As a Linux user wanting to run UAE, I was rather annoyed with this situation - so I have done some hacking to improve the state of UAE on Unix. You can find the results so far here

What I have done is to merge many of the changes from the latest WinUAE (0.8.22r9) into the standard UAE tree. This includes the latest custom chip emulation, processor emulation (including the x86 JIT engine), and input device subsystem. I have also fixed numerous bugs, especially in the GTK+ configuration GUI and to allow UAE to run better on big-endian hardware.

The source tree is - frankly - a mess, but it should compile without problems on Linux platforms. I have had some success building it on Darwin, but other Unices are untested (and may be broken). Use GCC 2.95 to build rather than GCC 3.x. I recommend you build against LibSDL, rather than plain X, since you can then run UAE full-screen without root permission - but the x11 target (with or without DGA support should work too).

For further information on UAE, go to the official UAE web site.

[Amiga1992]

Feck, all spanner-head style, I want to run this on me Mac. If he compiled it on Darwin it should run fine on OS X.

I hope the MaxUAE sods take this source and implement it, because maxUAE sucks balls.

[Mr Creosote]

While this is certainly an admirable effort (which I'll test tonight), it seems to be some kind of a 'quick shot'. Hasty probably describes it even better. If they had gone at it systematically, they'd have eliminated this stupid problem with GCC 3.x first. And, like WinUAE, they've broken with the portability and readability of the original UAE:

The source tree is - frankly - a mess

Oh well.... I guess I'll just be happy there is any activity at all

[Severin]

I've been using Richard's updates on my A1 since he started furgling with the code (a couple of months now), and all I can really say is he's done a marvelous job, he's converted a useless pile of crap into something that works well and is very useable.

Before he started, if you had installed P96, you couldn't even double click an icon or type less than 3 chrs with every keypress (with the prefs set to the longest delay and slowest typing speed), the colour was crap, fullscreen mode didn't work, the list goes on quite a bit more but I'm sure you get the idea...

[evilrich]

Feck, all spanner-head style, I want to run this on me Mac.

It'll currently run and build on MacOS 10.2 with LibSDL (and the GTK+ GUI if you have an X server running). For some reason, though, it's as slow as hell. The POSIX semaphore code doesn't work on 10.1, but I haven't retested that since I upgraded to 10.2 (last week).

I'm aware of the MaxUAE project, and it's on my to-do list to merge in some of their code to see if that improves things. I'm also trying to get it working on BeOS again (fingers crossed, with JIT on x86).

it seems to be some kind of a 'quick shot'. Hasty probably describes it even better.

I think that's a bit unfair. I inherited a mess - that's what I meant (Have you looked at the JIT code?). I'm trying to clean things up as I go along. But I'm also want to try and get changes merged into the WinUAE tree - which means any modifications cannot be too drastic.

Cheers,
Rich

[evilrich]

One more thing:

they'd have eliminated this stupid problem with GCC 3.x first

I didn't think it was a big deal. GCC 3.x takes vastly longer to compile UAE - for little apparent gain.

BTW, you can already compile with GCC 3.x on non-x86 platforms.

For the next release, I'll enable GCC 3.x support for x86, so that you can use it if you wish.

Cheers,
Rich

[killergorilla]

Blimey, Good of you to show here.

I really get excited when I see interested in the Amiga emu scene (especially at such a level as this) that it really makes me glad to be an Amiga fan.

[FromWithin]

Does this new version run faster than the existing Linux version?

If so, I'll heat up my broadband and finally get some compilers and stuff to let my Zaurus do the talking...

[evilrich]

Does this new version run faster than the existing Linux version?

To tell the truth, I don't know. I haven't done a serious comparison. I would suspect that the custom chip emulation is actually slower than previously - but then it's more accurate.

I haven' t been particularly concerned with speed so far. I'm just trying to get it to work.

If so, I'll heat up my broadband and finally get some compilers and stuff to let my Zaurus do the talking...

Now that would be a neat project. I imagine performance on the Zaurus wouldn't be too hot - what's it got, a 200 MHz ARM processor? - but it would certainly be cool to see UAE running on a Zaurus . . .

Cheers,
Rich

[FromWithin]

Originally posted by evilrich
Now that would be a neat project. I imagine performance on the Zaurus wouldn't be too hot - what's it got, a 200 MHz ARM processor? - but it would certainly be cool to see UAE running on a Zaurus . . .

400MHz Xscale. See?

[Severin]

As none of the other usless gits here bothered:

Welcome To EAB Evilrich

[killergorilla]

Originally posted by killergorilla
Blimey, Good of you to show here.

That's a hello in my book

[Mr Creosote]

I'm trying to clean things up as I go along.

Yes, actually, I have had a look at the original UAE sources. While it's certainly not a work of systematical art, it's still readable. Needless to say if you're willing to clean the mess up, I'm all satisfied If you want to do the enhancements first, that's ok, too, even though I would have preferred it the other way round (as I said). Let's not argue about semantics, though, as long as it's done, the way to it isn't important.

For the next release, I'll enable GCC 3.x support for x86, so that you can use it if you wish.

That's great to hear Yes, I do think it's crucial, because most users (the RPM crowd who just slap up the default installation of distro X) don't have GCC 2.x installed anymore. The fact UAE doesn't compile with current GCC scared lots of people away unfortunately

[Amiga1992]

Great work rich and ta for the tips, but imn no good with all this spanner-head thing. I have compiled things in linux in the past, ut not with much succes, it tends to drive me crazy :P I do have the XServer installed, and I bet that slows down things a lot, but I have no clue if I have SDK orLibSDL.

I want to make my iBook a portable Amiga and MaxUAE si so poop that it pisses me off :P

[evilrich]

Hi Akira

I have compiled things in linux in the past, ut not with much succes, it tends to drive me crazy

I can upload a MacOS X binary, if you're interested . . .

I do have the XServer installed, and I bet that slows down things a lot, but I have no clue if I have SDK orLibSDL.

The X server is only required for the configuration GUI (because it uses the GTK+ toolkit). X isn't required for the actual UAE display. That is done currently via SDL - and that is what is slow. I don't know yet whether the problem lies with UAE or with the MacOS X implementation of SDL. (BTW, you can get SDL for MacOS X at http://www.libsdl.org/download-1.2.php.)

Cheers,
Rich

[Amiga1992]

Hello rich!

I would love to test thsi on my 10.2. Do I need to download SDL in order to run the binary?

Cheers!

[evilrich]

I would love to test thsi on my 10.2. Do I need to download SDL in order to run the binary?

Yes.

I'll upload a MacOS X binary as soon as I can. I have a bit more twiddling and testing to do. Currently, it runs well in full-screen mode (windowed mode is dog slow), but there's a problem with using hot keys (which means you can't quit the emulator in full-screen mode or change back to windowed mode.)

Cheers,
Rich

[Amiga1992]

Im dloading SDL in the meantinme

[spiff]

oooh goodie my poor uae felt all usless compared to winuae

[mtb]

Thank you evilrich!

I have tried your version a bit now, and it's a lot better than the old one! Jit is usable, and in general it is a lot more stable.

I have already found some problems, and i dunno where to start a new thread so i'll post them there:

1) When i'm using a shell with uaegfx, it has a strange behaviour ( line drawn twice, if you pass the mouse on the shell it changes pixels, etc ) and it reports a lot of error in the shell where i have launched uae ( about 2bpp something, now i'm @ university and i can't try ). This happens both with jit version and without.

2) Zip - Gzipped adf support doesn't work anymore.

More to come, especially talking about games.