WinUAE 1.3 known bugs

[Toni Wilen]

As you may have noticed, 1.3 has some stupid bugs.. I plan to release bug fix version soonish but only after all stupid bugs are confirmed fixed.

Here are currently known showstopper bugs and possible workarounds:

Direct3D filter can still freeze in fullscreen mode: don't use it or use it in windowed mode only.

Emulated Amiga freezes before Kickstart "hand" screen appears, A4000 Kickstart (AF 3.1 Kickstart is A4000 version) in non-AGA mode: enable AGA or use non-A4000 Kickstart.

Emulator crashes when booting 68020/40+JIT mode: BogoRAM must not be larger than 1MB in AGA mode or there will be addressing conflicts (seriously, who uses configuration that has both slowram and AGA enabled..)

New sound filter configuration is loaded incorrectly: manual configuration needed.

Factor 5 extended images fail to work: use normal or ipf images, they are not really confirmed images anyway..

ASPI freezes/crash: switch to SPTI or disable it. (not sure if this is new bug or not, I found some bugs that have been there for a very long time..)

AVIOutput recording always splits the file when focus is lost or gained.. (ok, not a showstopper really)

Switching display filter on the fly does not work properly

Older bugs:

Display width >1280 cause weird errors.

[hipoonios]

Not serious bugs, but I should appreciate if you can look at these things:

You may already know it, but the first frame in the video using the AviOutput becomes black/blank. This happens in previous versions too.

..and a little wish.. fix the bugs in the input recorder, and add a merge function to it.

[Paul]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Switching display filter on the fly does not work properly

I've been playing with display filter and noticed the new autoscale tick box looks like it’s broken. Everything mostly works ok until I tick autoscale.

When I tick autoscale and start emulation I noticed, after I return to GUI, the horizontal & vertical size dropdown are set to 2x and the autoscale is then shown as unticked. When I change horizontal & vertical size back to 1x and return to emulation it keeps resetting back to 2x. The only way to stop this is to retick then untick autoscale before I return to emulation.

Hope this makes sense.

[jrom]

I think the auto load functionality of the Host part is also not working properly. Doesn't seem to autoload the config that i've selected at startup. I must press load to select it. And when autoload is selected it seems to be selected for all configs which seems a bit odd to me (only 1 config should be auto loadable i guess?).

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Paul

autoscale tick box

It was not supposed to be in release version. It is only experimental and currently mostly useless feature...

auto load functionality

It this really (possible) bug introduced in 1.3? This thread is only for bugs introduced in 1.3.

[laser]

there's some problems there with 2xsai filter..cause gfx corruption and winuae crashes
also the speed of this winuae 1.3 version is very low compared with 0.827

what is happening with 68k speed?
every new version is slower than previous?

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by laser

there's some problems there with 2xsai filter..cause gfx corruption and winuae crashes
also the speed of this winuae 1.3 version is very low compared with 0.827

what is happening with 68k speed?
every new version is slower than previous?

PC specs? Try to find the version which was last "faster" version because there are huge amount of changes between 0.8.27 and 1.3. Try also to create your configuration from scratch, especially if your configurations are from pre-0.8.21 era.

btw, My "Turrican II works 50fps on 866MHz laptop, lores and no doubling"-test still passes, no slowdowns introduced.

btw2, sai is very slow filter (designed for lores resolutions only, 8-bit consoles)

[laser]

hi Toni..thx for the reply

since 0.827 every new winuae version is a bit slower than the previous one....everybody can tell you
but you can't note it playing turrican..you can note using a full workbench installation
for example I have made a test using Lame mp3 encoder from workbench on winuae 0.827 and 1.3
my results crunching a 4 mins wave file to mp3 using default Lame 3.86 options: (on an athlon xp 2400 and a geforce 6600)

0.827 : 1.40 mins
1.3 : 2.14 mins

even the refresh of the workbench and speed in general of 0.827 is very faster and noticeable if you compare with 1.3

and about 2xSAI filter:

I not agree with you when you say that 2xSAI filter is slow and designed for 8 bit consoles and low resolutions
The best emulators uses 2xSAI and there are not 8 bit consoles:Znes,GENS,MAMEPLUS,SNES9x,ScummVM,VisualboyAdvance
all of them use 2xSAI engine

I use all of that emulators but the best example is VisualboyAdvance which is a slow emulator cause the GBA console got 2 cpus and I can play games at full speed there at 1600x1200 with 2xSAI filter enabled

The 2xSAI engine is the best image filter available at the moment offering the best image quality at the cost of low cpu usage
but on winuae never worked fine and never worked on high resolutions and was always very slow...now on winuae 1.3 it crash

please contact for help the author of 2xSAI engine to implement it on winuae correctly
even on 2xSAI website the author says:

Emu authors can contact me if they're interested in implementing the 2xSaI engine.


http://elektron.et.tudelft.nl/~dalikifa/


bye

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by laser

hi Toni..thx for the reply

since 0.827 every new winuae version is a bit slower than the previous one....everybody can tell you
but you can't note it playing turrican..you can note using a full workbench installation
for example I have made a test using Lame mp3 encoder from workbench on winuae 0.827 and 1.3

You said something about filter so I guessed you had speed problem with games with filter enabled, not workbench..

"everybody"? Haven't seen any yet

Your problem could be caused by incorrect CPU Idle setting in CPU-panel or priority settings. (try all 3 settings, "Above Normal", "Normal" and "Below Normal") Of course there might be real problems but it does not happen here so debugging isn't easy.. Also make sure cycle exact setting is not enabled. Disabling sound may also help.

Can you run CPU-only test? (no output or HD access), or try lame with both source and destination file in RAM disk? I think your problem is not caused by CPU speed but slowdown when accessing host's resources (filesystem, display etc..)

btw, thanks for testing with something that makes sense instead of just running some obsolete speed test program Can you do the same test with 0.9.x and older 1.2 versions?

Filters: implemention of 2xSAI used in WinUAE is slow (there was no others when I added it ages ago..), much much slower than for example Scale2x. Maybe there are other optimized versions available now, I will test later.. (but personally I don't like filters so don't expect quick fix..)

2xSAI works here, no crashes or graphics corruption. Probably the problem only triggers when specific configuration options are set.

[laser]

hi Toni again

I have made new tests on various winuae version like you want
always using some config on all winuae versions:
cpu 68020+fpu normal priority Jit enabled,64mb z3fast 2 meg chip and 16mb rtg and opengl filter
Using Lame 3.86 but this time cruching a small wave file to mp3

winuae time

1.3 1.11
1.2 1.08
1.1.1.0 1.04

1.0 1.03
0.992 1.03

0.991 1.02
0.827 1.02
0.825 1.02
0.823 1.02


like you can see the last fastest version was 0.991 and not 0.827 like I though and of course the slow version is the current 1.3
I hope this help to return to fast 68k speed

btw.you can check speed as well betewen versions playing a game like Aladdin aga and not Turrican
Aladdin AGA forces winuae and cpu to the maximum
check Aladdin for example on 0.991 and then on 1.3 with opengl filter and you will see

bye,

[Toni Wilen]

Thanks. That looks better..

Configuration adjusting probably can make the difference smaller. I'll ask my beta testers to do some speed testing after next version is out, maybe it helps to find if it is problem with WinUAE, configuration or just stupid Windows version difference.. (Different Windows versions and background programs, virus scanners etc.. can cause all kinds of weird problems.. Some PCs run WinUAE faster when "above normal" is set, some run it _very_ slow unless "below normal" is set. This is so confusing..)

btw, why are you are using filter in Workbench? I don't see the point.. Picasso96 should be much more logical choice.

btw, did you use "real world" clock when timing or emulated Amiga's clock? They may not be in sync..

Anyway, don't use filters if you want faster speed. They are just extra stuff and very display card (especially 3D filters) and driver specific and I am not interested in testing them with every possible card/driver combination...

AGA or filters on old 866MHz laptop won't run without missed frames. The point is to "guarantee" 50fps on most normal games on older hardware.

Simply buy faster hardware if you have missed frames when running AGA or filters

[laser]

hi again

Im sure that diference of speed betewen versions is not a problem of windows or priority
I have the same results here on tests on any winuae version using normal or high priority
I think it's a problem of the winuae core itself of the lastest versions
maybe you have changed something and you forgot....don't know

and about filters:

why you ask that I use filters on Workbench?

Opengl filter is not active when you are on a P96 screen
opengl filter works only when you are on a native amiga screen
it comes active for example when you run a whdload game from workbench and a native amiga screen appears

That's the way you have made the thing? right? or not?
if not
who have implemented the filter thing of winuae?
disabling or enabling filters on a P96 Workbench screen not modify speed and not modify any benchmark test cause the filter is not active

anyways I use always opengl filter with bilinear cause is fast and offers
nice image quality for native screenmodes and I can center correctly the thing
I don't like pixelated screens
I like smoothed screens

btw,

I don't understand your question:

did you use "real world" clock when timing or emulated Amiga's clock? They may not be in sync..

can you explain please with other words this question

thanks

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by laser

Im sure that diference of speed betewen versions is not a problem of windows or priority
I have the same results here on tests on any winuae version using normal or high priority I think it's a problem of the winuae core itself of the lastest versions maybe you have changed something and you forgot....don't know

I have learned to not assume anything anymore.. Can you do following test: load your usual configuration but set chip ram to 512k and enable OCS chipset and then boot normally. Do you get faster speed test results now? (also, always run the test at least 3 times because Windows can randomly steal some CPU time..)

why you ask that I use filters on Workbench?

cpu 68020+fpu normal priority Jit enabled,64mb z3fast 2 meg chip and 16mb rtg and opengl filter

Yes, it says RTG but setting RTG memory does not equal Picasso96 mode is enabled..

Opengl filter is not active when you are on a P96 screen
opengl filter works only when you are on a native amiga screen
it comes active for example when you run a whdload game from workbench and a native amiga screen appears

That's the way you have made the thing? right? or not?

yes, thats right.

I don't understand your question:

did you use "real world" clock when timing or emulated Amiga's clock? They may not be in sync..

can you explain please with other words this question

Use real stop watch to time the length of speed test operation. ("speed" of time inside the emulation may not be exactly same as real world time)

[Mangar]

Hey Toni,

I was wondering if you tested the default, "out-of-the-box" config under windows vista. It seems if I select A500 and any of the fullscreen options the program will crawl horribly slow. If I select A1200 it works fine. No filters are enabled, as it is the default config, and nothing else is changed. I simply installed winuae and launched it. Placed terminator 2 in the floppy drive and started the emulator. Windowed mode works fine no matter what settings I select.

[laser]

Ok Toni

I have made new tests on winuae 0.991 and 1.3
same config but 512k chip and ocs chipset
I have a small pointer on workbench now OK

I have faster results on both versions:
repeated the test 2 or 3 times and no changes in results

winuae 0.991 - before 1.02 - now 0.57
winuae 1.3 - before - 1.11 now 1.05

btw, Lame 3.86 have built in-time estimation and post the results in time of the operation when finish working

but now I have checked the sync with my personal watch and Lame was accurate in all tests

you can get Lame on aminet,a new version I think 3.93 if you
wanna make a test
but my version 3.86 is more stable and works better


bye

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by laser

I have made new tests on winuae 0.991 and 1.3
same config but 512k chip and ocs chipset
I have a small pointer on workbench now OK

I have faster results on both versions:
repeated the test 2 or 3 times and no changes in results

winuae 0.991 - before 1.02 - now 0.57
winuae 1.3 - before - 1.11 now 1.05

Thanks. "Final" question: do you also get faster results if you use your normal configuration but run shell command "setenv picasso96/amigavideo 15khz" before running the test?

I think there may be some possible P96-mode speedups by disabling some custom emulation features that are not really needed and/or can be faked. (I guess Amithlon has to do something similar)

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Mangar

Hey Toni,

I was wondering if you tested the default, "out-of-the-box" config under windows vista. It seems if I select A500 and any of the fullscreen options the program will crawl horribly slow. If I select A1200 it works fine. No filters are enabled, as it is the default config, and nothing else is changed. I simply installed winuae and launched it. Placed terminator 2 in the floppy drive and started the emulator. Windowed mode works fine no matter what settings I select.

Current public Vista betas are too buggy for serious debugging.. (and where is winuaebootlog.txt?)

Random suggestion: try -nordtsc -command line parameter.

[Mangar]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Current public Vista betas are too buggy for serious debugging.. (and where is winuaebootlog.txt?)

Random suggestion: try -nordtsc -command line parameter.

I tried adding the command line. Improved performance slightly but it still crawls. For instance for the Virgin Logo to display on the screen in terminator 2 it takes 7-8 seconds for it to fade in and then another 7-8 seconds for it to fade out.

Here is my winuaebootlog.txt file

I understand that Vista compatibility may be difficult at the moment. I'll use winuae in windowed mode for now but thought I should let you know.

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by Mangar

I tried adding the command line. Improved performance slightly but it still crawls. For instance for the Virgin Logo to display on the screen in terminator 2 it takes 7-8 seconds for it to fade in and then another 7-8 seconds for it to fade out.

Does "CPU%"-meter show >100% CPU usage or same as in windowed mode when the slowdown happens?

[laser]

hi

quote:

Thanks. "Final" question: do you also get faster results if you use your normal configuration but run shell command "setenv picasso96/amigavideo 15khz" before running the test?




NO ..I have the same results using that shell command

but I have made another test with sound disabled
and check what I got:

winuae 1.3 normal audio: 1.11 - audio disabled 1.03

winuae 0.991 normal audio 1.02 - audio disabled 0.55

and winuae 0.991 audio disabled and 512k chip and OCS - 0.49


that's great cause like you said some speed on a p96 workbench can be gained disabling or hacking some custom chip features
maybe Amithlon is faster than winuae cause it haven't the paula audio of winuae and it haven't the chipset emulation

on the other way you can make a patch to disable paula audio always and start it automatic when requerided by the user when the user start for example a mod player or something like that

Paula audio is now wasting cpu time when not working....I think



bye