Cloanto C64 & AmigaForever 2016

[trackah123]

Didn't see it posted yet, but Cloanto has released a completely new C64 and AmigaForever 2016 Editions.

New features :

New user interface with gorgeous high-DPI display features ("retina"/4K density and beyond, multi-monitor)
Ability to merge Amiga and 8-bit CBM content in single player (if both Amiga Forever and C64 Forever are installed)
PowerPC emulation support, including 1+ GB of RAM, PCI bridge, preset devices with native AmigaOS 4.1 FE driver support, and more
A wealth of new content configuration and authoring features (right-click a title and select Edit)
Enhanced Amiga serial port, MIDI and printer support
New Amiga devices for storage, graphics, sound and networking
New Shared folder to exchange data between different Amiga configurations and the host system
New AmiKit, AROS, ROMs and more

Few AF 2016 Screenshots
Few C64 2016 Screenshots

[tero]

I'm curious about the +1 GB of RAM for OS4. Is this real or is that just swap?

[FOL]

Originally Posted by tero

I'm curious about the +1 GB of RAM for OS4. Is this real or is that just swap?

I would guess at Z3 RAM acting as swap or a swap partition.

[LieutLaww]

Also if you have AF 2016 and C64 F 2016 installed at the same time you can merge them into the one interface.

[ptyerman]

I received the special offer email from them yesterday. I plan on getting the plus edition this week sometime.

[ma693541]

I have installed AF 2016, a bit different player here than in the 2014 version.
I tried to install OS 4.1 FE in it, hell, not much help in the text file that followed that menu item. Yes, you need the ISO of OS 4.1 FE and it's a dual boot with 68040 and PPC together. You need to be an expert to install it. It use a .hdf harddrive image and it's only set to 300 MB, if you use the default settings for PPC OS it will make the image inside the .rp9 file.

[ma693541]

Upgrading to Amiga Forever 2016:

• Right-click a title and select Edit to explore the numerous new authoring and configuration features. Pause the mouse over a setting for quick instructions.
• Are you ready for some magic? If you have both Amiga Forever and C64 Forever installed (same versions), open the Options dialog (Tools menu) and select the Merge platforms option. After restarting the software, you will be able to access and author both Amiga and CBM titles from the same navigation pane of both players.
• To explore the new PowerPC-related features, right-click the new "PPC" Amiga 4000 preset configuration in the Systems folder, select Edit, and explore the settings in the Configuration tab.
• If you would like to install AmigaOS 4.1 FE for Classic (not included with Amiga Forever) you can go to the Systems tab of Amiga Forever, right-click the "Amiga 4000 PPC" title (included with Amiga Forever), select Create Copy, and add the AmigaOS 4.1 FE ISO image to the Media tab. Or, if you have an installation CD, insert it in the drive before starting the system for the first time. Other than the AmigaOS 4.1 FE product itself, everything else is included in Amiga Forever 2016.
• Working with files has become easier than ever: you can now right-click a title on the Windows side of Amiga Forever and use the Open submenu to directly access the location of a mounted directory. You can also use Open/Amiga Files from the File menu to access shared items.
• A new "Shared" drive option makes it even easier to share files between different Amiga configurations (and Windows). If you need to share files with Workbench 1.3 and older versions, the Edit Disk dialog has a new Synthetic icons option that is equivalent to "Show/All files". You can see both features at work in the Workbench 3.X and Workbench 1.3 configurations.
• If you use Amiga productivity software to print, right-click the title, select Edit and in the Configuration tab set the Parallel option to the desired print mode. This new option helps to better differentiate between the intended use of the Amiga parallel port, increasing compatibility with titles that may poll the port, and allowing for future refinements such as support for audio samplers and other devices. The EpsonQ emulation mode is now also set here, to better take into account title-specific differences. New settings include a PostScript emulation option (which requires the Ghostscript package).
• If you use Amiga MIDI software with Windows MIDI devices, right-click the title, select Edit and in the Configuration tab set the Serial option to MIDI. This new option helps to better differentiate between the intended use of the Amiga serial port, and to redirect it to the most specific Windows device. Under Tools/Options/Emulation, new settings make it possible to independently select the desired Windows device for both native serial and MIDI modes. In previous versions of Amiga Forever, Windows MIDI devices could be set, but there was no option to map the Amiga serial port when used in native (non-MIDI) mode.
• On 64-bit versions of Windows you can choose to run native 64-bit emulation code, for example by right-clicking the title and selecting Play with/WinUAE (64-Bit), or by setting the preferred default in the Emulation settings (Tools/Options menu). The use of native 64-bit code helps allocate more than 1 GB of Amiga memory, and can result in faster emulation (e.g. of the PowerPC CPU).

[thomas]

Originally Posted by tero

I'm curious about the +1 GB of RAM for OS4. Is this real or is that just swap?

I'd say this is misleading. AF is based on WinUAE, so most likely the same limits apply. You can set 1 GB or more Zorro3 RAM, but this is only usable on 68K AmigaOS, maybe with WarpOS or PowerUP extensions. But OS4 still can only use the RAM on the accelerator which is limited by hardware to 128 MB on A4000 and 256 MB on A1200.

[Arnie]

This is the config for PPC. Only 128mb shows up as fastmem with OS4.1

[FOL]

Originally Posted by Arnie

This is the config for PPC. Only 128mb shows up as fastmem with OS4.1

Yep, they are using Z3 as Swap, thats all. You can see in your pic, its set to 256MB.

[Arnie]

Originally Posted by FOL

Yep, they are using Z3 as Swap, thats all. You can see in your pic, its set to 256MB.

Any idea how this works?

[FOL]

Originally Posted by Arnie

Any idea how this works?

You just set how much you want, and when the 256MB of CPU RAM runs out. It will use the Z3 SWAP RAM. You can do the same with HDD partition.

[Arnie]

Originally Posted by FOL

You just set how much you want, and when the 256MB of CPU RAM runs out. It will use the Z3 SWAP RAM. You can do the same with HDD partition.

O.K. Thanks. It's still as clear as mud but I'll see what I can work out.

Personally 128mb is enough for what I use but it's nice to be able to understand these things.

On another note; I see Cloanto are still using the same 7 directories. It would've been nice to be able to add your own dirs like PD or Coverdisks, for example. Or maybe have a dir structure!

[trackah123]

I asked on Cloanto's FB page for clarification about that 1GB thing. This is the reply i got.

What is the source of "+1 GB of RAM for OS4"? It might be some AmigaOS beta testers, or a speech by Hyperion at an Amiga30 event? Amiga Forever 2016 RAM options are covered here:

http://www.amigaforever.com/kb/13-111

You can set Zorro III to 512 or more MB, but whether the OS uses that only for "swap" or as "real" RAM is up to the OS

TITLE
Maximum RAM Supported by Amiga Emulation


TOPIC

Q: How much RAM does the Amiga emulation support?


DISCUSSION

A: In general, the maximum memory of all Amiga systems mirrors the limitations of the original hardware. As some applications and system functions may fail when using more RAM than was possible on the original Amiga hardware (e.g. 2 MB Chip RAM or 128 MB of Zorro III RAM), the original configurations are set to avoid unsafe settings.

In accordance with the original specifications, the Amiga Chip RAM is limited to 2 MB on newer Amiga systems (AGA chipset), and to 512 KB on early models (OCS chipset). The maximum amount of Fast RAM is always 8 MB. Systems with a 68020 or higher CPU further support up to 128 MB or more Zorro III RAM (which can be used instead of Fast RAM). Systems with expansion options further support up to 512 MB of RTG (retargetable graphics, or video) RAM, which is supported by the fully licensed Picasso96 software that is included with Amiga Forever.

The total memory space of the Amiga Zorro III expansion bus is 1792 MB, which is shared by pure RAM expansions, RTG video memory, and other peripherals. On A-4000 class systems (e.g. Workbench 3.X, Amiga 4000, AROS and WHDLoad configurations), the emulation can achieve a total of 1.5 GB Zorro III RAM by emulating two Zorro III expansion boards (1 GB + 512 MB), if peripherals like the RTG video memory leave room for it.

The process address space of the host environment also has an impact on the maximum contiguous memory that can be allocated. On 32-bit versions of Windows the maximum size of Zorro III RAM expansions may be about 512 MB. On 64-bit versions of Windows, the practical limit when using 32-bit versions of the emulation software (which is the current default) may be about 1 GB or 1.5 GB.

In order to allocate the maximum Amiga address space, Amiga Forever (2016 and newer) must be set to use the 64-bit version of the emulation. This can be achieved by setting the Use 64-bit version option in the Emulation settings (under Tools/Options in Amiga Forever).

In all cases, since the host environment's virtual memory functionality is inherited, it is possible to emulate an Amiga having more RAM than is actually available on the computer in which the emulation is run.

[Arnie]

Hi trackah123,

I don't use FB myself so I was wondering if you could ask a question on my behalf.

A3000 setup using kick1.4 needs 1mb of motherboard memory to run or you get error can't get memory!.

On AF2014 you can get round this by editing the rp9-manifest.xml file and adding the line <ram type="a3000mem">33554432</ram>.

This no longer works in AF2016 as all it does is add 1mb fast (z2) memory. Can this be fixed or add Motherboard memory to the configurations panel?

[trackah123]

Hi Arnie.

I think any more technical questions belongs to the regular AF-support page because the FB page is more meant for Cloanto's news announcements.

Amiga Forever Support Page

[Arnie]

Thanks, never noticed that page before...doh! I'll send them a message.

EDIT: Hmm, error sending message, I wonder if that's deliberate!

[ReadOnlyCat]

Originally Posted by Arnie

Thanks, never noticed that page before...doh! I'll send them a message.

EDIT: Hmm, error sending message, I wonder if that's deliberate!

Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence.

Or more kindly: it is easier to make mistakes than to do evil on purpose.

[Arnie]

Originally Posted by ReadOnlyCat

Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence.

Or more kindly: it is easier to make mistakes than to do evil on purpose.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool that to speak and remove all doubt.

[spudje]

I'm considering getting this (Am entitled to an upgrade price). I currently have WinUAE with AmigaOS4.1 FE running. Want to clean install my PC with Win10 and then use Amiga Forever.

Do I need to unregister AmigaOS 4.1 first in my current setup (if so how?) before installing and registering it again. Or will it simply continue to work with the correct login data?