WinUAE suddenly stopped working

[alowe]

WinUAE has suddenly stopped working.
It was working yesterday. Nothing has changed. It's not working today.

When attempting to load an ADF it doesn't spool up the floppy drive.
If I try to boot without any floppies inserted, it doesn't reach the kickstart screen. Just shows a HALT2 error.

I've tried uninstalling WinUAE and going through the same process I went through to get it working. HALT2.
I've tried installing the 64bit and 32bit versions. HALT2.
Tried changing the ROM file. HALT2.
It doesn't even get as far as reading the ADF file, to that can't be the issue.
Just incase I deleted it and re-downloaded it. HALT2.

On a whim I uninstalled all my graphics drivers in case some automatic update in the background might have changed something that WinUAE doesn't recognise. HALT2.

Getting to the stage now that I'll need to try a different empulator since nothing I have tried has worked.

Oh, and turned off Wait for Blitter. That didn't work either. HALT2.
I'm out of ideas.

[Mclane]

Could be your config file got corrupted?

Last resort if everything esle software wise is IS working on your PC..

Means using regedit, just run it from the run menu, if you are unsure or don't follow the steps then you can screw your PC's windows setup, unlikely but possible. The registry is NOT a good place to play in...

look down the left for

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\

Double click on it and then look for Arabuusimiehet

Warning, the next bit will delete the settings for WinUAE, things will need to be set up again.

Right click on it and delete the key..

Run the emulator and see if there's a change.

PS, the fact it's not working isn't the fault of WinUAE, there's a vast user base of people who use it daily, no updates have caused this. Point being, WinUAE is the best Amiga emulator on the PC etc, there are others that are good but none have the tremendous features that Toni has packed in. Also worth saying that UAE has always been the best emulator for the Amiga thanks to a wonderful series of developers taking over the reigns. While you can't use it for now, you have done, no need to stray, get this fixed..

[Toni Wilen]

Unlikely to have anything to do with registry settings or PC settings.

HALT2 means emulated CPU caused double fault. If it happens even before screen turns dark gray: it probably is bad KS ROM image (perhaps it was scrambled AF ROM image and it can't be descrambled due to missing key).

Assuming config is basic A500 or A1200 config.

[Mclane]

Ah, thanks for the heads up Toni.

PS, Happy Birthday, I'm sure you were 47 the other day

[alowe]

Originally Posted by Mclane

Could be your config file got corrupted?

Last resort if everything esle software wise is IS working on your PC..

Means using regedit, just run it from the run menu, if you are unsure or don't follow the steps then you can screw your PC's windows setup, unlikely but possible. The registry is NOT a good place to play in...

look down the left for

Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\

Double click on it and then look for Arabuusimiehet

Warning, the next bit will delete the settings for WinUAE, things will need to be set up again.

Right click on it and delete the key..

Run the emulator and see if there's a change.

Thanks, it was worth a try but still goes to HALT2. I'm tempted to buy another laptop to see if that will fix the problem.

[Mclane]

Do what Toni says re the roms, it's better than getting a new lappy...

Unless you won the lottery last night

[alowe]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Unlikely to have anything to do with registry settings or PC settings.

HALT2 means emulated CPU caused double fault. If it happens even before screen turns dark gray: it probably is bad KS ROM image (perhaps it was scrambled AF ROM image and it can't be descrambled due to missing key).

Assuming config is basic A500 or A1200 config.

There is something strange going on. The ROMs I use are static data files that can't change on their own. They worked yesterday. Not today. Was using a rev3.1 ROM for an A1200 game, so out of curiosity tried a rev1.2 ROM and set WinUAE to A500 but got the same exact problem. No matter what ROM I use it causes a HALT2.

So, in an attempt to eliminate WinUAE as the cause of the issue, I installed FS-UAE. Feel so dirty. But it also had the same issue.

I can't see how the ROMs could have changed cause they don't have an encryption key and replacing them has not fixed the issue. So, I will buy a new laptop and use that dedicated to WinUAE. That way I can eliminate my current laptop as the cause of the problem.

Thank you for your commitment Toni. I will update when I find a solution as HALT2 errors seem to be one of the most difficult to fix if there's no obvious cause. I've found people in Turkey, France and Italy that had the same thing happen. They came back to play only to find it suddenly didn't work because of a dreaded HALT2. So weird as they never posted a fix.

[Mclane]

There are lots of badly dumped files out there but if they have been changed while on the computer then it wasn't WinUAE or any emulator. I'd have a good old scan with Malware bytes free (just incase you have not already)

I have a horrible feeling that a new lappy will yield the same results (but I hope not)

[Toni Wilen]

How to quickly check if ROM images are valid: (at least official ROMs):

Open WinUAE Paths panel, make sure "System ROMs" path points to your ROM image directory (which includes KS ROMs). Then click "Rescan ROMs". Open ROM panel, open "Main ROM Image" drop down menu. Does it list ROMs you have? If not: ROM images are corrupted or modified.

If it lists some other ROM images (than usual A500 ROMs): Does it boot? If it does, not listed ROM images are almost guaranteed to be corrupted.

[alowe]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

How to quickly check if ROM images are valid: (at least official ROMs):

Open WinUAE Paths panel, make sure "System ROMs" path points to your ROM image directory (which includes KS ROMs). Then click "Rescan ROMs". Open ROM panel, open "Main ROM Image" drop down menu. Does it list ROMs you have? If not: ROM images are corrupted or modified.

If it lists some other ROM images (than usual A500 ROMs): Does it boot? If it does, not listed ROM images are almost guaranteed to be corrupted.

Clicking Rescan ROMs worked. It's now working again. But the new laptop is already in the post. Lol, no problems. The current one is too heavy anyway.

[gimbal]

Just admit it, the new laptop was the goal of this thread

[Mclane]

Yep, I was just going to post that..

A canny scot, told the partner that his laptop was broken and must have a new one