WHDLoad title "Banshee" freezes in 3.6.1

[Foebane]

ftp://grandis.nu/Commodore_Amiga/Ret...2_AGA_0633.lha

Just tried this in latest 3.6.1 Beta (also crashes in 3.6.0) and after the language select screen and storyline animation, game company logo appears and the attached image shows what happens then. It stays that way and the game doesn't continue. I know that the WHDLoad file is OK and that it has never frozen at this point before, but the main game menu appears and the game starts. Have just recently created new configuration, but old config does same thing.

[DamienD]

Works perfect here using WinUAE v3.6.0 and http://www.winuae.net/files/b/winuae_3610b4.7z Foebane

...just tested using my "Classic WB 3.1 Lite" .HDF with a standard "A1200 / 2MB Chip & 8MB Fast RAM" configuration.

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Works perfect here using WinUAE v3.6.0 and http://www.winuae.net/files/b/winuae_3610b4.7z Foebane

...just tested using my "Classic WB 3.1 Lite" .HDF with a standard "A1200 / 2MB Chip & 8MB Fast RAM" configuration.

Can you test with my config? It should be in the attached file.

The only new addition to my config recently has been a USB Gamepad.

[DamienD]

Sure

Ok, your configuration file also works fine here using my "Classic WB 3.1 Lite" .HDF.

...so it has to be something on your .HDF.

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Sure

Ok, your configuration file also works fine here using my "Classic WB 3.1 Lite" .HDF.

...so it has to be something on your .HDF.

I decided to use a single huge (1.6Gb) .vhd file for my Amiga-side data storage, aside from the ClassicWB .vhd.

I figured the .lha I extracted to it might be corrupted, so I downloaded the link in my first post and extracted it again, same issue.

I don't get what the problem is, the other WHDLoad games I've tried run fine. Then again, I've seen that pattern in the screenshot before, but I cannot place my finger on what it means.

[DamienD]

Sorry man, no idea what to suggest next...

You wanna try on my freshly installed "Classic WB 3.1 Lite" .HDF?

I'll send you a PM

[Foebane]

When I originally extracted the file before and re-extracted the file just now, I used my script from here: http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=...8&postcount=38

But just now I used DOpus fuction "Arc Ext" to extract the file that way, and it worked fine, and the game now runs as it should.

Great, so basically, my script doesn't work? Or I'm running "xadunfile" incorrectly? I would use DOpus' "Arc Ext" all the time, except I don't know how to extract them into folders named after the archives!

[Foebane]

Problem found!

I compared the extracted .lha (from the first post in this thread) which I extracted with both xadunfile and the "Arc Ext" from DOpus, and whilst all the file sizes, dates and attributes were identical, I spotted the following:

One of the files in the .lha is called "P60.calm bottom4" and (most likely because of the period after P60) xadunfile replaced the space with an underscore, which caused the error I initially reported. I corrected this and the xadunfile'd version of the .lha then worked fine.

I don't know if this type of error can be corrected in xadunfile (for example, leave all filenames alone!) but if it can, someone tell me how to do it, please. I'm not clear as to the options listed when I type "xadunfile ?".

[Foebane]

Sorry, I thought this was a WinUAE issue, but it's simply more of an Apps issue. Please move this thread, if you like, moderators.

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by Foebane

Problem found!

I compared the extracted .lha (from the first post in this thread) which I extracted with both xadunfile and the "Arc Ext" from DOpus, and whilst all the file sizes, dates and attributes were identical, I spotted the following:

One of the files in the .lha is called "P60.calm bottom4" and (most likely because of the period after P60) xadunfile replaced the space with an underscore, which caused the error I initially reported. I corrected this and the xadunfile'd version of the .lha then worked fine.

I don't know if this type of error can be corrected in xadunfile (for example, leave all filenames alone!) but if it can, someone tell me how to do it, please. I'm not clear as to the options listed when I type "xadunfile ?".

This worked for me as well. Thanks!

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by Weaselrama

This worked for me as well. Thanks!

Glad it came in useful!

However, I've given up using large hard drive files for storage on WinUAE, and I just drag and drop the various WHDLoad .lha files onto the ClassicWB Lite desktop and either copy the files into the right place or run it from the .lha directly (they are read-only when dragged and dropped, mind). I do this for all demos, too, it's saved a lot of headaches and solved all of my problems.

I'm assuming you're on emulation and not real hardware?

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by Foebane

Glad it came in useful!

However, I've given up using large hard drive files for storage on WinUAE, and I just drag and drop the various WHDLoad .lha files onto the ClassicWB Lite desktop and either copy the files into the right place or run it from the .lha directly (they are read-only when dragged and dropped, mind). I do this for all demos, too, it's saved a lot of headaches and solved all of my problems.

I'm assuming you're on emulation and not real hardware?

Yup. Except I would never have thought to look at a filename. I keep a sandbox drive going which I delete from time to time to clear off the junk and installation files. It's the drive all archives are downloaded to. I use DOPUS to extract to my GAMES drive which is on a USB. It works out well, but I wouldn't have given that file name another thought.

What made you suspicious the underscore didn't belong there?

[Foebane]

Originally Posted by Weaselrama

What made you suspicious the underscore didn't belong there?

I've had a lot of programming experience, and the programs coders write refer to various data files, and they tend to break if those filenames are altered in any way (they look for exact information). It would be like going into Windows\System32 and just renaming the odd DLL file here and there... CHAOS would ensue and your system would definitely BSOD (fatal crash).

I don't know why the archival program did that when extracting the Banshee file with the space character in the name, but I suspect that it did it because strings like URLs, email addresses and the old MS-DOS 8.3 filenames do NOT like spaces, so they replace them with underscores or anything that gets rid of what is seen as a separator of data items. The %20 that you can see in URLs sometimes is the hexadecimal of 32, the ASCII character for a space.

These items of information just don't like spaces, and the Banshee data file violated that, so "change it" they went, and they didn't care if the game no longer worked. That's what I think happened, anyway.

[Weaselrama]

Originally Posted by Foebane

I've had a lot of programming experience, and the programs coders write refer to various data files, and they tend to break if those filenames are altered in any way (they look for exact information). It would be like going into Windows\System32 and just renaming the odd DLL file here and there... CHAOS would ensue and your system would definitely BSOD (fatal crash).

I don't know why the archival program did that when extracting the Banshee file with the space character in the name, but I suspect that it did it because strings like URLs, email addresses and the old MS-DOS 8.3 filenames do NOT like spaces, so they replace them with underscores or anything that gets rid of what is seen as a separator of data items. The %20 that you can see in URLs sometimes is the hexadecimal of 32, the ASCII character for a space.

These items of information just don't like spaces, and the Banshee data file violated that, so "change it" they went, and they didn't care if the game no longer worked. That's what I think happened, anyway.

Good show. I don't think I paid any attention to the archived file names in Unarc. Really good catch. I had been playing the CD32 version of the game which worked, but meant mentally switching the axes of the joystick. This is much more enjoyable, obviously. Thanks again.

Since someone will probably bring it up, I did try to configure the Thrustmaster gamepad in FS-UAE, results were limited and I just went with the defaults playing the CD32 version. It worked as noted. Since then, I've gone back to my Speedlink Competition Classic and I really like it a lot better. If it seems stiff at first, I noticed you let it and the microswitches work to your advantage. I practiced with Asteroids and Stardust for a while until I got the hang of it.