Is FS-UAE slow on a Raspberry Pi??

[wiisoldier]

Recently I was playing around with AmiKit X. You can see some of my comments here:


https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php...11#post1650211


After a few more days work, I have a working copy for a Raspberry Pi using Amiberry. It works great using a .hdf file or a folder containing the same files. It boots into the configuration program (choose Amiga OS / screen resolution etc.) and is very fast. Just as quick as the PC version I got the files from. Doing a basic SysInfo test shows great results:





However, when I tried to repeat the results using FS-uae on the Pi (x64 OS) the system failed to load with the .hdf and was appallingly slow with the folder copy of the OS:





The system took nearly two minutes to load completely and was very slow during operation.


When I took the same files and configurations to a Windows x64 PC running FS-uae 3.168 it improved dramatically, loaded much faster and was fairly usable:





However when using the beta FS-uae 4 it did slow a little but was still usable:





My main concern is about FS-uae in Raspberry Pi. When you look at the SysInfo output one difference is remarkably clear. In FS-uae on the Pi the CPU/MHz is showing 792 whereas all others are listing as 7.09. Now I know that SysInfo is not the best test in some things but here it is significant. This is the only version that is painfully slow to use.


All FS-uae copies used the same configuration file:


[fs-uae]
amiga_model = A1200/020
bsdsocket_library = 1
cachesize = 4096
cdrom_drive_0_delay = 1
chip_memory = 8192
floppy_drive_count = 2
floppy_drive_speed = 0
floppy_drive_volume_empty = 5
graphics_card = uaegfx-z3
graphics_memory = 131072
hard_drive_0 = /home/pi/Documents/FS-UAE/Hard Drives/AmiKit/AmiKit_FSUAE
hard_drive_1 = /home/pi/Documents/FS-UAE/Hard Drives/AmiKit/RabbitHole
jit_compiler = 1
kickstart_file = amiga-os-310-a1200.rom
uae_chipset = aga
cpu = 68020
uae_cpu_speed = max
uae_fpu_model = 68882
zorro_iii_memory = 131072


(The drive locations changed depending on the OS)


Yet the Pi version failed to get to even 20% as fast as the Windows versions. As a final test I run the same files and config on a x64 linux-mint laptop. Again the resulting speed and performance was OK:





Not as quick as the Windows or Pi/Amiberry versions, but still very usable. I have see the post here:
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php...ghlight=amikit


about setting up FS-uae to run AmiKit and I have followed the format and added a few tweeks. Yet, trying to get FS-uae to run this OS on a Raspberry Pi has deafeated me.


When I first got back into the Amiga a few years ago, my first foray was with FS-uae and I loved it. The simple loading for games and the ability to build a basic workbench was great. However it does sometimes let me down with more complicated systems. It doesn't seem as easily adaptable like Amiberry and Win-uae and even intergrating an FPU has to be done in the background within the config file.



So I am looking for advice and suggestions. Am I missing something straight-forward with my config file? Is FS-uae not capable of running such an OS? Am I just being stupid and forgetting to hit one simple switch?


Thanks in advance.


wii

[SkulleateR]

Pretty normal since FS-UAE on ARM does not have JIT afaik

[wiisoldier]

Originally Posted by SkulleateR

Pretty normal since FS-UAE on ARM does not have JIT afaik

Thanks SkulleateR,
You just agreed with what I thought was the problem. However, there is very little documentation on the FS-uae site to confirm this.
Does anyone know if FS-uae 4 has resolved this problem?

[giantclam]

You're better asking about that here -> https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=108748

[wiisoldier]

Thanks giantclam,
I looked on that forum and this one:
https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=106562
But there is little mention about JIT on the Pi. I guess I need to stick with Amiberry for now. I'll have to get Amiberry working on my Linux x86/x64 machines also.

[giantclam]

The two have differing development history ~ fs-uae started as an x86/x86-64 based emulator, and recently added ARM support, whereas converse is true for amiberry, which started as an ARM based emulator and recently added x86-64 support...

...this mirrors back to each emulator's current state of development -- fs-uae doesn't yet have JIT support for ARM ; amiberry doesn't yet have JIT support for x86-64 =)

[wiisoldier]

Thanks again giantclam,
I didn't realise that Amiberry on x86-64 didn't support jit. I installed it on a spare laptop running linux mint and the jit option is greyed out. I tried running AmiKit on it and although slightly better than FS-uae on the raspberry pi, it was still very sluggish.
With the active work by midwan, it may only be a matter of time before he has it working.

I'll still use FS-uae on the Pi as it is a great option for getting a quick Amiga game "fix" as the front-end support for WHDLoad is superb. However, with the likes of Lakka, Recalbox, RetroPie and others supplying support for many more emulators, there appears to be some very stiff competition out there.

[pixie]

Originally Posted by SkulleateR

Pretty normal since FS-UAE on ARM does not have JIT afaik

It's a weird value since when you don't use JIT usually there's a massive hit in speed, 800 MIPS is not that big of a hit

(for reference on my 5800X I have 4000 with jit with 70 without)

[giantclam]

Originally Posted by wiisoldier

I'll still use FS-uae on the Pi as it is a great option for getting a quick Amiga game "fix" as the front-end support for WHDLoad is superb.

I find the built-in XML support amiberry has for whdload titles flexible, easily extendable and more than sufficient =)

[wiisoldier]

Thanks again, giantclam
You passed on valuable information.
Much appreciated.

[giantclam]

Originally Posted by pixie

It's a weird value since when you don't use JIT usually there's a massive hit in speed, 800 MIPS is not that big of a hit

(for reference on my 5800X I have 4000 with jit with 70 without)

It's an interest metric ~ as amiberry in x86-64 guise doesn't have JIT yet, if you just consider emulation speed, with a say 3GHz 4core x86-64 CPU, you've pretty much got enough grunt (over say an rpi4/400) to not notice the missing JIT support wrt speed.
OTOH, if you want to do ClassicWB or Pimiga on the rpi (with or without RTG), you are going to need JIT enabled.


That said, I'm sure there's more than one scenario wherein having JIT support or not, actually matters...ie; I came across an instance on the rpi4B4g wherein a RTG wordbench setup (iirc classicwb-p96 of a year ago) would not display workbench screen background unless JIT was enabled ; on the x86-64 build where there is no JIT, I get the same no workbench background image stuff..(can't even put a pattern on it, weird stuff =)

Also...the demo contained in that HDF...umm... 'State of the Art' ...crikies... it contains a copper effect that absolutely smashes the uae engine of amiberry in x86-64 guise, and I tend to suspect the lack of JIT has something to do with it