How to detect WHDLoad files?

guidobartoli80 · 13 April 2019, 11:27

Hi to everybody, long-time Amiga fan here!

I've installed FS-UAE 2.9.7dev4 on Linux Mint 19.1 and I copied all my ADF and WHDLoad collection into a local folder.
Everything went fine with ADFs after updating File Database, FS-UAE correctly showed all my games in the list, but no WHDLoad variant was detected, every game shows the ADF variant only.

I tried various WHDLoad formats (zipped LHAs, normal LHAs, raw folders with WHDLoad files, ...), nothing is detected by FS-UAE... did anyone have similar problems?

Many thanks in advance!

ztronzo · 13 April 2019, 12:28

Try downloading a file from http://www.whdownload.com/ and mount it as a harddrive zip file. It should add the whdload parameters automatically which will include the slave file.

If that doesnt work.. I would say signup for the fs-uae openretro database, all you need is an email and password. It may take a while for fs-uae launcher to update the database with all the entries

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

guidobartoli80 · 13 April 2019, 16:40

Mmmh, good suggestion, that worked indeed, I tried with Turrican II (1.5) and FS-UAE detected it!

So, the correct WHDLoad format seems a .zip file containing a .info file together with a folder with game files. I downloaded WHDLoad collection from EAB FTP server, but they are all in .lha format, did I get the wrong package from there?

Many thanks!

Retro-Nerd · 13 April 2019, 16:44

The WHDownload zips are very outdated. FS-UAE supports lha compressed archives too. The EAB FTP file server has always the latest versions. Not sure if Frode already support most of them.

edit: Just checked. Turrican II v1.7 is detected via lha archive.

guidobartoli80 · 13 April 2019, 17:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

The WHDownload zips are very outdated. FS-UAE supports lha compressed archives too. The EAB FTP file server has always the latest versions. Not sure if Frode already support most of them.

There are many places in EAB server where to get WHDLoad (Game/WHDLoad, Retroplay/WHDLoad, WHDLoad_Packs, etc...), can you recommend the one supported by FS-UAE?

Retro-Nerd · 13 April 2019, 17:09

Only use the ones Retroplay preinstalled.Make sure you have the latest files. He made a complete reinstall of all games in 2017+all the newer updates till today.

Then in FS-UAE

1. Update File Database
2. Update Game Database

guidobartoli80 · 14 April 2019, 00:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

Only use the ones Retroplay preinstalled.Make sure you have the latest files. He made a complete reinstall of all games in 2017+all the newer updates till today.

Then in FS-UAE

1. Update File Database
2. Update Game Database

Hi Retro-Nerd,
I downloaded the Retroplay WHDLoad latest collection in .lha format (I ended with a folder for every alphabet letter), I added it to the FS-UAE File Database and then I updated the Game Database with my OpenRetro Account.
Unfortunately, FS-UAE still does not detect any WHDLoad in this format...

Here is an example file on disk:

These are the File Database paths:

This is the WHDLoad variant not detected:

Retro-Nerd · 14 April 2019, 00:35

That's strange, it's detected properly here in FS-UAE 2.9.7dev 4.

guidobartoli80 · 15 April 2019, 12:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retro-Nerd

That's strange, it's detected properly here in FS-UAE 2.9.7dev 4.

Thanks for trying it out!
Mmmhh it's strange, indeed... what format are you using for WHDLoad?

Retro-Nerd · 15 April 2019, 12:33

You mean the archives? Just the ones Retroplay uploaded to the EAB File Server in lha. WHDLoad itself is automatically downloaded via FS-UAE launcher.

FrodeSolheim · 01 May 2019, 12:19

It is possible that the FS-UAE installation lacks the required lhafile python package. Please try installing python3-lhafile from my ubuntu PPA (you might need to force a full file rescan by deleting the Files.sqlite database first).

guidobartoli80 · 02 May 2019, 10:50

Hi Frode,
Thanks for the reply, are you referring to the stable (ppa:fengestad/stable) or development (ppa:fengestad/devel) PPA?

FrodeSolheim · 04 May 2019, 10:39

For this purpose, either one is fine, the python3-lhafile is identical, but if you update fs-uae* packages from the PPA, I recommend the devel PPA at this point.

guidobartoli80 · 17 May 2019, 12:38

Unfortunately, installing python3-lhafile package did not solve the issue with .lha files...

Actually I managed to download another WHDLoad collection made of .zip files and that seems to be recognized by FS-UAE.

FrodeSolheim · 17 May 2019, 16:38

You must also probably delete the Files.sqlite database and restart the Launcher - and then scan for files after installing python3-lhafile, since the launcher has already scanned these files within finding anything.

It should ideally have ignored .lha files completely when the lhafile extension cannot be loaded, so it will scan these files once the extension is present. I'll add that for a future version. EDIT: Fixed, will be included in the next version. Will help future users at least.

guidobartoli80 · 31 May 2019, 08:04

I just updated FS-UAE to 2.9.12 version, rescanned the Retroplay WHDLoad collection of .lha files and now everything works, great work Frode!

Just a small note: before scanning the File Database again, the WHDLoad variants where marked as present in the GUI (small grey dot in the list) even if they were actually not found (I removed them from the list), maybe there is a missing update of the "present flags" when something is removed from the File Database?

tar · 18 May 2021, 21:11

I have the same problem in Windows 10 x64, with the portable version of FS-UAE v3.0.5.

I have installed the FS-UAE plugins, downloaded all WHDLoad games archives, extracted all to one folder (which then has 2506 .lha-files - one .lha for each game) and added this folder within FS-UAE.

It scans all files but only shows 6 games:
- Bomb Jack
- Dux
- Fatal Mission
- Pong
- Roboter
- Transplant

Then, I have also downloaded the WHDLoad_usr.lha and moved it into the same folder and scanned again. This did not change anything.

Do I also need Python for Windows x64 and how should I install this?

What else should/can I do?

Btw. deleting Files.sqlite does not remove the games from the list within FS-UAE.

FrodeSolheim · 18 May 2021, 22:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by tar

I have installed the FS-UAE plugins, downloaded all WHDLoad games archives, extracted all to one folder (which then has 2506 .lha-files - one .lha for each game) and added this folder within FS-UAE.

These are not archives containing games. These are archives containing installers which you can use to install the game to an Amiga hard drive, often requiring original game disks to extract game files from.

What you are looking for are archives containing the result of installing the game.

tar · 18 May 2021, 23:36

Mh, I thought I could save some time by skipping all those installation procedures (with own created hdfs and workbenchs) by using those WHDLoad files. What are they good for, then?

If I need to create workbench installations (templates) beforehand and still need the original .adf-files and need to manually install the games, what is the benefit, if any?

Roscoe · 19 May 2021, 03:48

You can, you've just downloaded the wrong files. The installers you have are useful for people who want to install individual games to an existing hard drive. People have already done this for you and packed the installers with the games - just not where you downloaded from.

Look at this thread, specifically the link under the line "All JST, HDLoader and WHDLoad installs can also be downloaded from my stash."

13 April 2019, 11:27	#1
guidobartoli80 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Loro Ciuffenna Posts: 19	How to detect WHDLoad files? Hi to everybody, long-time Amiga fan here! I've installed FS-UAE 2.9.7dev4 on Linux Mint 19.1 and I copied all my ADF and WHDLoad collection into a local folder. Everything went fine with ADFs after updating File Database, FS-UAE correctly showed all my games in the list, but no WHDLoad variant was detected, every game shows the ADF variant only. I tried various WHDLoad formats (zipped LHAs, normal LHAs, raw folders with WHDLoad files, ...), nothing is detected by FS-UAE... did anyone have similar problems? Many thanks in advance!

13 April 2019, 16:44	#4
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,453	The WHDownload zips are very outdated. FS-UAE supports lha compressed archives too. The EAB FTP file server has always the latest versions. Not sure if Frode already support most of them. edit: Just checked. Turrican II v1.7 is detected via lha archive. Last edited by Retro-Nerd; 13 April 2019 at 17:08.

17 May 2019, 16:38	#15
FrodeSolheim FS-UAE Developer Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Førde, Norway Age: 43 Posts: 4,043	You must also probably delete the Files.sqlite database and restart the Launcher - and then scan for files after installing python3-lhafile, since the launcher has already scanned these files within finding anything. It should ideally have ignored .lha files completely when the lhafile extension cannot be loaded, so it will scan these files once the extension is present. I'll add that for a future version. EDIT: Fixed, will be included in the next version. Will help future users at least. Last edited by FrodeSolheim; 17 May 2019 at 19:49.

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13 April 2019, 12:28	#2
ztronzo Registered User Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Montreal Posts: 297	Try downloading a file from http://www.whdownload.com/ and mount it as a harddrive zip file. It should add the whdload parameters automatically which will include the slave file. If that doesnt work.. I would say signup for the fs-uae openretro database, all you need is an email and password. It may take a while for fs-uae launcher to update the database with all the entries Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

13 April 2019, 16:40	#3
guidobartoli80 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Loro Ciuffenna Posts: 19	Mmmh, good suggestion, that worked indeed, I tried with Turrican II (1.5) and FS-UAE detected it! So, the correct WHDLoad format seems a .zip file containing a .info file together with a folder with game files. I downloaded WHDLoad collection from EAB FTP server, but they are all in .lha format, did I get the wrong package from there? Many thanks!

13 April 2019, 17:09	#6
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,453	Only use the ones Retroplay preinstalled.Make sure you have the latest files. He made a complete reinstall of all games in 2017+all the newer updates till today. Then in FS-UAE 1. Update File Database 2. Update Game Database

14 April 2019, 00:35	#8
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,453	That's strange, it's detected properly here in FS-UAE 2.9.7dev 4.

15 April 2019, 12:33	#10
Retro-Nerd Missile Command Champion Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Germany Age: 52 Posts: 12,453	You mean the archives? Just the ones Retroplay uploaded to the EAB File Server in lha. WHDLoad itself is automatically downloaded via FS-UAE launcher.

01 May 2019, 12:19	#11
FrodeSolheim FS-UAE Developer Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Førde, Norway Age: 43 Posts: 4,043	It is possible that the FS-UAE installation lacks the required lhafile python package. Please try installing python3-lhafile from my ubuntu PPA (you might need to force a full file rescan by deleting the Files.sqlite database first).

02 May 2019, 10:50	#12
guidobartoli80 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Loro Ciuffenna Posts: 19	Hi Frode, Thanks for the reply, are you referring to the stable (ppa:fengestad/stable) or development (ppa:fengestad/devel) PPA?

04 May 2019, 10:39	#13
FrodeSolheim FS-UAE Developer Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Førde, Norway Age: 43 Posts: 4,043	For this purpose, either one is fine, the python3-lhafile is identical, but if you update fs-uae* packages from the PPA, I recommend the devel PPA at this point.

17 May 2019, 12:38	#14
guidobartoli80 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Loro Ciuffenna Posts: 19	Unfortunately, installing python3-lhafile package did not solve the issue with .lha files... Actually I managed to download another WHDLoad collection made of .zip files and that seems to be recognized by FS-UAE.

31 May 2019, 08:04	#16
guidobartoli80 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Loro Ciuffenna Posts: 19	I just updated FS-UAE to 2.9.12 version, rescanned the Retroplay WHDLoad collection of .lha files and now everything works, great work Frode! Just a small note: before scanning the File Database again, the WHDLoad variants where marked as present in the GUI (small grey dot in the list) even if they were actually not found (I removed them from the list), maybe there is a missing update of the "present flags" when something is removed from the File Database?

18 May 2021, 21:11	#17
tar Registered User Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: saxony.germany Posts: 7	I have the same problem in Windows 10 x64, with the portable version of FS-UAE v3.0.5. I have installed the FS-UAE plugins, downloaded all WHDLoad games archives, extracted all to one folder (which then has 2506 .lha-files - one .lha for each game) and added this folder within FS-UAE. It scans all files but only shows 6 games: - Bomb Jack - Dux - Fatal Mission - Pong - Roboter - Transplant Then, I have also downloaded the WHDLoad_usr.lha and moved it into the same folder and scanned again. This did not change anything. Do I also need Python for Windows x64 and how should I install this? What else should/can I do? Btw. deleting Files.sqlite does not remove the games from the list within FS-UAE.

18 May 2021, 23:36	#19
tar Registered User Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: saxony.germany Posts: 7	Mh, I thought I could save some time by skipping all those installation procedures (with own created hdfs and workbenchs) by using those WHDLoad files. What are they good for, then? If I need to create workbench installations (templates) beforehand and still need the original .adf-files and need to manually install the games, what is the benefit, if any?

19 May 2021, 03:48	#20
Roscoe Registered User Join Date: Apr 2021 Location: Australia Posts: 6	You can, you've just downloaded the wrong files. The installers you have are useful for people who want to install individual games to an existing hard drive. People have already done this for you and packed the installers with the games - just not where you downloaded from. Look at this thread, specifically the link under the line "All JST, HDLoader and WHDLoad installs can also be downloaded from my stash."

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