Slave ASM and compile

[field3d]

Hello. I’m novice compiling Slaves for WHLoad. I want to create my own Slaves. Also I see in WHLoad there are for each element a source code and I would like to test compiling by my self and create. mine. I understand assembly language. What I don’t know is what I need to install to be able to compile for example the source .asm for the Slaves? I can do in PC or must be in Amiga OS only? If in Amiga I need to install the WHLoad developer version? I have a computer with AMIKIT and runs fine that is why I ask I would not like to remove the version is actually running as runs fine, but that is why I need and what compiler does the job to convert to executable?


Thank you

[jotd]

cross compile with vasm on windows or linux it works great. You'll need amiga includes besides whdload.i

[field3d]

Oh I see he whload.i is in developer file of whload. Where I copy the file in Windows? I will check vasm.

[paraj]

Getting a proper setup is half the challenge YMMV, and you should adjust to fit your own needs, but I use a setup inspired by what JOTD does.

I have a WB 3.1 installation in a "whdloaddev" folder where I have all slave sources, whdload etc. and a couple of WinUAE configurations that boot from that directory (one with JIT for fast iteration, and one with 060+MMU for proper debugging). WHdload dev package is installed in SYS:WHDLoad, system include in includes/NDK_3.9, you get the idea. S:user-startup starts the slave I'm working on.

Then for e.g. this slave (http://www.whdload.de/demos/Altair_ZenerDrive.html) I have SYS:ZenerDrive w/ disk.1 and ZenerDrive.slave. In SYS:ZenerDrive/source I have ZenerDrive.s and a Makefile (and git repo, neither published) like this:

PROGNAME = ZenerDrive
HDBASE = c:\path\to\whdloaddev
WHDBASE = $(HDBASE)\WHDLoad
WHDLOADER = $(PROGNAME).slave
SOURCE = $(PROGNAME).s
CONFIG=whdload-test.uae
#CONFIG=whdload-test-jit.uae

all : $(WHDLOADER)

$(WHDLOADER) : $(SOURCE) Makefile
	date > datetime
	vasmm68k_mot -pic -x -DDATETIME -I$(HDBASE)/includes/NDK_3.9/Include/include_i -I$(WHDBASE)/Include  -I$(HDBASE)/includes -I$(WHDBASE) -I$(WHDBASE)/Src/sources -nosym -Fhunkexe -o $(WHDLOADER) $(SOURCE)

test: $(WHDLOADER)
	cp $(WHDLOADER) ..
	cmd /c start c:\tools\winuae\winuae64.exe -config=$(CONFIG) -G

[jotd]

the above looks VERY familiar

[paraj]

Originally Posted by jotd

the above looks VERY familiar

Learned from the best Maybe I/we should make a proper tutorial for getting started. Using whdload for debugging (as you know) is very useful even if you don't plan to make a slave for public release, and getting the setup going and first wrangling of "generic" kick13/31 is not so easy, but once you're setup it's golden.

[field3d]

Oh wonderful now is all clear. I think vasm is wonderful. I used recently Ghidra to check some of my old programs I didn’t remember and is amazing too but vasm I see is a magnum for the compilation. Thank you for the help.

[paraj]

Originally Posted by field3d

Oh wonderful now is all clear. I think vasm is wonderful. I used recently Ghidra to check some of my old programs I didn’t remember and is amazing too but vasm I see is a magnum for the compilation. Thank you for the help.

Great! Feel free to ask more questions as there probably small tips you can benefit from that feel implicit when you've done this a bit. Like the offset between what you're usually seeing in ghidra and what you need to use for patch lists etc.

[field3d]

I’m testing and I configured all. Appears not a problem. I just have an issue. I see the demo you mention ZenerDrive the WHDLoad asks lvo/dos.i also lvo/graphics.i I have the NDK 3.9 for amiga and it doesn’t comes there the lvo/dos.i and lvo/graphics.i where can I download that libraries or the full NDK complete? I see that dos.i is inside dos directory lvo/graphics.i I can’t find. Where can I download that NDK include libraries?

[field3d]

I noted what is missing in some. The kick13.s asks for the lvo/graphics.i that one I can’t find anywhere. Any place to find that library?

[jotd]

will zone those for ya

[Don_Adan]

I dont remember exactly, it was many years ago.
But many old includes/sources dont use LVO/ as directory.
LVO dir was created perhaps when kick 3.0 was created.
Try graphics/graphics.i and copy to LVO dir or modify kick13.s file and change path for lvo/graphics.i to correct.

[jotd]

I remember that those files are somehow non standard. All other files with structures & defines & all are standard but those ones appear in different formats. Either big LVO file of all known libs or separate files. Zoned them.

[Photon]

Great question field3d!

Originally Posted by paraj

Learned from the best Maybe I/we should make a proper tutorial for getting started. Using whdload for debugging (as you know) is very useful even if you don't plan to make a slave for public release, and getting the setup going and first wrangling of "generic" kick13/31 is not so easy, but once you're setup it's golden.

It would be very cool with a dedicated .hdf (or maybe even better, .zip of complete system image) with everything set up and working!

Then ppl who know how to code could at any time just fire that up, make the changes, and compile a new version. It would be a dream... especially for me as I've recently asked for more "button 2 instead of up to jump" (and in general full 3-button support if useful) slaves.

Maybe it could be done as a pinned, community effort thread with that as result? Then the first game I would patch would be Paradroid 90!! (The long-press in that game really hurts the gameplay and idea of the game - way too easy to "mis-click" = game over.)

[jotd]

This can't really be HDF, unless you want to use barfly on WinUAE to build slaves (which is still possible, but I've stopped doing that since around 2015)

[Photon]

Originally Posted by jotd

This can't really be HDF, unless you want to use barfly on WinUAE to build slaves (which is still possible, but I've stopped doing that since around 2015)

Cheers jotd, yeah it doesn't have to be .hdf. But since getting a slave to compile depends to a large extent on the right WHD environment set up, and paths to include files and tools used to compile being correct, it would save a lot of time to have this as a prepared file/folder structure archive.

Maybe something akin to ClassicWB could be done, but as a .zip and KS/WB stuff provided by the user on a blank harddisk or harddrive directory?

I.e. freshly installed 3.1 Amiga, unzip this to root and it puts everything in the proper place? (Mostly to save writing an installer script, which would obviously be even better - as long as it doesn't "stop on something" too easily.)

The goal, then, to have a clean volume dedicated to only working on slaves. Maybe there's already a repo that does this? (Or for that matter, a tutorial thread already from a decade ago?)

[field3d]

Yes I can modify no problem it works as Python the problem is I can’t find the graphics.i that lick13.s asks or exists with other name? I tried to search in internet in bel 3.9, 3.2 and a lot of places and nothing refers me to a graphics.i. The other .i I could find but graphics.i nop. Where can I download it that file? Or maybe if has other name in the ndk 3.9 or 3.2?

[Don_Adan]

Seems that was called graphics_lib.i previously:

https://github.com/deplinenoise/amig...graphics_lib.i

[field3d]

Oh that one I just rename from lib.i to .i and that’s all?

[field3d]

I renamed that library to .i and I have these errors:

error 23: undefined symbol <_LVOFreeMem>

error 23: undefined symbol <_LVORemove>

error 23: undefined symbol <_LVOAddHead>

error 23: undefined symbol <_LVOAddTail>

error 23: undefined symbol <_LVOAllocMem>


Any idea? Is possible that graphics.i is another version or other thing.

I think is needed the graphics.i in specific. For example the same happened with dos_lib.i is different of the file dos.i. I compared both files and totally different. And dos.i I could find there are many versions. But graphics.i I can’t find it yet. Is a requirement for the kick13.s is not the game I mentioned is the real kick13/s who requires that library then any place to find it or what can I replace?