Help editing startup for noobs!

[hansel75]

Hi! I was wondering if someone could help me with changing the startup-sequence, to allow either Tinylauncher or Xbench to be booted before workbench loads.

I am using a 2mb A600 in conjunction with Ppil's pcmcia boot floppy, to boot a basic workbench2.1 of the pcmcia card in which is in hdf format.
More info about this method here if needed-
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=65652

I have tried a few times to edit the startup but i have no idea what i am doing, below is my startup sequence from my basic workbench hdf-

; $VER: startup-sequence 38.22 (24.4.92)

C:SetPatch QUIET
Version >NIL:
AddBuffers >NIL: DF0: 15
FailAt 21

MakeDir RAM:T RAM:Clipboards RAM:ENV RAM:ENV/Sys
Copy >NIL: ENVARC: RAM:ENV ALL NOREQ

Assign >NIL: ENV: RAM:ENV
Assign >NIL: T: RAM:T
Assign >NIL: CLIPS: RAM:Clipboards
Assign >NIL: REXX: S:
Assign >NIL: PRINTERS: DEVS:Printers
Assign >NIL: KEYMAPS: DEVS:Keymaps
Assign >NIL: LOCALE: SYS:Locale

IF NOT EXISTS SYS:Fonts
Assign FONTS:
EndIF

BindDrivers
Mount >NIL: DEVSOSDrivers/~(#?.info)

Resident >NIL: C:Execute PURE

IF EXISTS DEVS:Monitors
List >NIL: DEVS:Monitors/~(#?.info) TO T:M LFORMAT "DEVS:Monitors/%s"
Execute T:M
Delete >NIL: T:M
EndIF

SetEnv Workbench $Workbench
SetEnv Kickstart $Kickstart
UnSet Workbench
UnSet Kickstart

IPrefs

Echo "Amiga Release 2.1. Kickstart $Kickstart, Workbench $Workbench"

ConClip

Path >NIL: RAM: C: SYS:Utilities SYS:Rexxc SYS:System S: SYS:Prefs SYS:WBStartup SYS:Tools SYS:Tools/Commodities

IF EXISTS S:User-Startup
Execute S:User-Startup
EndIF

Resident Execute REMOVE

LoadWB
EndCLI >NIL:


This is all foreign to me, if anyone could help with step by step instructions for a noob, that would be much appreciated. Also if needed i can post the startup from the pcmcia boot floppy disk as well.

I would need to know where to put the tinylauncher.exe or Xbench.exe file into workbench, what directory, drive names and associations etc.

Then i need to know what to change in my wb startup-sequence above, to allow booting into one of these programs before wb loads up, to save on ram etc.
What do i edit in my startup to achieve this, if someone could repost my startup with the necessary changes and info that would be great! I think i also have issues when trying to edit it myself with the spacing and layout.

Or should i use a user-startup file instead?
I also can boot a hdf of classic wb that has the left/right mouse button menus at boot, is that a better alternative.
I can post the startup-sequence and user-startup files from the classic wb if needed. But i would prefer to work with the very basic wb hdf i have here also.

I want a really streamlined way of booting straight into tinyluancher, or xbench, so i can play whdload games with more spare ram by not having wb consuming ram in the background.

Even if someone could post a basic step by step guide for noobs on how to launch any program before wb, by editing the startup etc. That would be awesome!

Thanks, Han.

[hansel75]

Can anyone help at all?

Thanks, Han.

[Arnie]

If you put a ; before LoadWB, that will stop workbench from loading.

You could then use the user-startup to launch other programs.

[hansel75]

Hey, ok thanks! Now what would i put in the user-startup to launch a program?

Han.

[emufan]

user-startup is more or less the same, as startup-sequence. the purpose is, to have a save way, of adding own programs, tools to the startup-process, without "destroying" the main file (startup-sequence) - so it wont get bigger and bigger.
within user-startup, just type in the name of your programs - here is user-startup from my system:

;BEGIN MUI
if exists "System:MUI"
   assign MUI: "System:MUI"
   if exists MUI:Libs
      assign add LIBS: MUI:Libs
   endif
   if exists MUI:Locale
      assign add LOCALE: MUI:Locale
   endif
   version >nil: exec.library 39
   if not warn
      if exists MUI:Docs
         if exists HELP:dummy ; do not remove
         endif                ; this entry!
         assign add HELP: MUI:Docs
      endif
   endif
endif
;END MUI
DefIcons
;AmigaSYS Assigns and commands
Assign Tools: System:Tools
Assign AmiTCP: System:
Assign IBrowse: System:Internet/IBrowse
Assign AOS3.9: System:Tools/UpgradeOs3.9
Assign WordPad: System:Tools
Assign VMEM: System:T
Assign YAM: System:Internet/YAM

assign AmiSSL: "System:Internet/IBrowse/AmiSSL"
if exists AmiSSL:Libs
  assign ADD LIBS: AmiSSL:Libs
endif

IF EXISTS S:AmigaSYSU-Startup
  Execute S:AmigaSYSU-Startup
EndIF

Assign CON: dismount
Mount CON: from DEVS:KingCON-mountlist
Mount KCON: from DEVS:KingCON-mountlist
Mount KRAW: from DEVS:KingCON-mountlist

run >NIL: Birdie ? <ENV:Birdie.Prefs

;BEGIN X-DVE
Assign >NIL: X-DVE: "Work-HD:X-DVE"
Assign >NIL: FONTS: "Work-HD:X-DVE/Fonts" Add
;END X-DVE
;BEGIN ProAsm Assembler Package
path Work-HD:ProAsm Work-HD:ProAsm/c add
assign asm: work-hd:proasm
assign libs: Work-HD:ProAsm/libs add
assign help: Work-HD:ProAsm/Help add
;END ProAsm Assembler Package

if you placed tinylauncher.exe or Xbench.exe in dh0:c ( for example ), then add to user-startup:

dh0:c/tinylauncher.exe

[hansel75]

Hi guys! Thanks a lot for you help, i finally got it working.

I made a small user-startup to load tinylauncher before WB, and i also put a ; before loadWB in the startup-sequence.

The one thing that confused me a little, is that when running this pcmcia boot floppy system, to boot into the hdf containing WB, tiny launcher etc. The hard drive is not DH0 like the usual ide cd setups, it's set as HD0 instead. So i used the line-
HD0:c/tinylauncher.exe in the user-startup.

I tested this on my real A600, booted the boot floppy then when it accessed the pcmcia cf card, it loaded straight into tiny launcher instead of WB

Really appreciate your help guys, i realize most amiga people should know these little things, but i have been 15yrs away from them until recently, and i don't have a good memory lol.

Han.

PS: Also thanks to Ppil, the beauty of this pcmcia boot floppy system, is that to change out to different hdf files containing various WB setups, you can simply pull the cf card out of the pcmcia slot, put it into the card reader of a pc, copy over whichever hdf file you want to use at the time, reinsert cf card into the amiga, boot of the floppy and that's it.
It takes a few minutes to swap WB's and various setups on the fly, and you don't have to open the amiga to do this I can swap between a Classic lite WB hdf, a Basic WB2.1 hdf, and now a tinylauncher hdf setup at anytime.

[JimNeray]

For Xbench. Firstly download the lastest release (www.jimneray.com)

After that extract the .lha where you want.

For example if you extract xb at: work:xbench0.71b/

Edit your startup-sequence. Insert the following lines JUST BEFORE the c:Loadwb

run >nil: assign xb: work:xbench0.71b
cd xb:
c:run xb:xinit.exe

After that your amiga will boot on x-bench without launching the workbench. But if you want to start on the workbench simply press the "DEL" key when your amiga is starting and the xbench init will be canceled and the workbench will be loaded.

Hope i've helped you

edit: ok your problem seem to no longer be. I've answered you too slowly

[hansel75]

Thanks also for you help JimNeray, i am planning try xbench as well.

I'm basically looking for the most streamlined launcher to boot into before WB loads, to basically launch whdload games with the most amount of spare ram available. I currently only have 2mb chip in my A600, and after WB loads about 600k of that gets eaten.

Han.

PS: Update, when launching tiny launcher on bootup, TL's cfg screen says it's using about half my ram(i have 2mb chip total). This seems a large amount usage for a launcher and doesn't leave much for the games to run in, does TL unload itself from ram when launching a whd game? Also would anyone know if the rad feature actually works properly or not on kickstart 2? I might try out Xbench on bootup next and see how much ram it consumes!

[JimNeray]

@hansel75: I've just uploaded a new release of X-bEnCh (0.72) who's now perfectly startup-sequence friendly. More info here: http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=65633

Update: To answer your question, X-bEnCh totally unload itself from the ram before launching anything. Added to that, the "MegaRam" option try to gain again more extra ram.

[hansel75]

Thanks JimNeray. I tried you startup method from your Xbench post link, but unfortunately i couldn't get it to boot on startup.
I'm sure it works fine but i must be doing something wrong, maybe with my paths etc. Also i don't have c:loadwb in my wb startup, just loadwb on it's own towards the end?

With tiny launcher, i used a user-startup file to boot tiny launcher before wb, my hd is set as hd0 on my A600 so i simply used the line- HD0:c/tinylauncher.exe and added the exe to the c directory.

Can something similar be done with Xbench and a user-startup file? If so what line would i use to boot xbench if i had the xbench exe in the c directory, would it be this- HD0:c/xbench.exe

I tried this also but it didn't work, do you only need the xbench.exe on it's own, or all the other files that come with it in the folder?

I'm quite willing to change my wb startup if that's easier, i had posted my full wb2 startup-sequence near the start of this thread, maybe you could repost my wb2 startup with the necessary changes, assuming that i would have either the xbench.exe file in the c directory, or if needed the entire xbench folder in c directory under the folder Xb0.72B , and the hd in use is a HD0 device.

Thanks, Han.

[JimNeray]

Hi hansel75

You need all the files in the xbench drawer. X-bench is splited in many little executables to use less memory.

Put the directory of x-bench0.72 on the root of HD0: then rename it to xbench

Then edit your startup-sequence like this: (the changed lines are in bold)

; $VER: startup-sequence 38.22 (24.4.92)

C:SetPatch QUIET
Version >NIL:
AddBuffers >NIL: DF0: 15
FailAt 21

MakeDir RAM:T RAM:Clipboards RAM:ENV RAM:ENV/Sys
Copy >NIL: ENVARC: RAM:ENV ALL NOREQ

Assign >NIL: ENV: RAM:ENV
Assign >NIL: T: RAM:T
Assign >NIL: CLIPS: RAM:Clipboards
Assign >NIL: REXX: S:
Assign >NIL: PRINTERS: DEVS:Printers
Assign >NIL: KEYMAPS: DEVS:Keymaps
Assign >NIL: LOCALE: SYS:Locale

IF NOT EXISTS SYS:Fonts
Assign FONTS:
EndIF

BindDrivers
Mount >NIL: DEVSOSDrivers/~(#?.info)

Resident >NIL: C:Execute PURE

IF EXISTS DEVS:Monitors
List >NIL: DEVS:Monitors/~(#?.info) TO T:M LFORMAT "DEVS:Monitors/%s"
Execute T:M
Delete >NIL: T:M
EndIF

SetEnv Workbench $Workbench
SetEnv Kickstart $Kickstart
UnSet Workbench
UnSet Kickstart

IPrefs

Echo "Amiga Release 2.1. Kickstart $Kickstart, Workbench $Workbench"

ConClip

Path >NIL: RAM: C: SYS:Utilities SYS:Rexxc SYS:System S: SYS:Prefs SYS:WBStartup SYS:Tools SYS:Tools/Commodities

IF EXISTS S:User-Startup
Execute S:User-Startup
EndIF

Resident Execute REMOVE

;LoadWB

cd HD0:xbench/
execute >nil: xbench.exe

EndCLI >NIL:

And all will work for you

[hansel75]

Hi and thanks again, but i still can't get this to work for some reason.

I put the renamed xbench folder into the root of HD0(i take it the root directory is the amigaos directory, so the xbench drawer would sit alongside the other drawers like c and s etc.?), I then used your modded startup but it comes up as Unknown command and failed reutrncode 10?

By the way, i have also tried this method through winuae and had no luck, the only difference between winuae and my real amiga is the drive name so i change that as necessary.

Han.

Update, i have tried a few things, it now just comes up a grey screen with the black workbench bar along the top, it must be the paths or something that is incorrect on mine?

I have also attached a pic showing the location of my xbench drawer to see if this is correct, and matches the startup sequence you edited and posted for me. I used winuae as it was easier to take a pic, now with winuae the hdf hd i use is labeled DH1, but when i use the same hdf on my real A600 from the pcmcia card, it's labeled HD0. I make the changes as necessary between the two when alternating the hdf between winua and the real amiga. That worked when i was testing the tinylauncher at boot. But i am stumped with xbench atm, i have tried your startup with the files located where they are in the pic, on my real amiga as HD0, and in winuae edited to DH1, but still not working, i feel so noob and confused lol!

[hansel75]

Hi, disregard my last post, i finally got it sorted out. It appears i made an error when editing the startup-sequence.
I have now gotten Xbench to boot on startup before wb ok

Thanks for all your help, by the way nice work with the launcher JimNeray, it's very well done! Han.

PS: The only thing i noticed is after Xbench had loaded into the menus, i only have about 1.17mb spare out of 2mb ram! Makes me wonder if stuff is still loading into the background, or does Xbench use 900k while in menus before launching the game? Or is there anything in that startup-sequence you edited for me that i can remove to save ram, like any of the stuff listed before Xbench is launched? If i could slim down anything there to save ram that would be great. Thanks.

[JimNeray]

Originally Posted by hansel75

PS: The only thing i noticed is after Xbench had loaded into the menus, i only have about 1.17mb spare out of 2mb ram! Makes me wonder if stuff is still loading into the background, or does Xbench use 900k while in menus before launching the game? Or is there anything in that startup-sequence you edited for me that i can remove to save ram, like any of the stuff listed before Xbench is launched? If i could slim down anything there to save ram that would be great. Thanks.

As telled upstair, X-bEnCh totally unload itself from the ram before launching anything. Added to that, the "MegaRam" option try to gain again more extra ram. So finally you have all your ram available to launch anything.

Normally X-bEnCh use about 42kb of chip ram and a various amount of fast (or chip if no fast available), depending of the size of your listings. (About 440kb of fast for 1693 files dispatched on two listings.). But again ALL is freed before starting your whdload/exe/xbs/...

[Connorsdad]

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I'm pulling my hair out trying to launch straight into xbench instead of classic workbench.

The xbench instructions are to edit the startup sequence as so..

cd drive:dir
execute xbench.exe

I commented out c:loadwb too. I've tried various ways from this thread but nothing has worked so far, your help is much appreciated.

Edit
Fixed it

run >nil: assign xb: drive:dir
c:run xb:xinit.exe