Help needed with WHDload Errors!

[hansel75]

Hi All! I was just wondering if anyone had any hints for getting a few non working whdload games running for me.

I have an A600 with ks3.1, 2mb chip and 2mb fast ram, running a light version of classic workbench in which gives me about 3.8mb spare ram to run whdload games in plus whd 17.1 installed.

I would imagine that would allow most 1-3 disk whd games to run ok(.5mb-1mb ocs/ecs games only of course), and i have had a lot of success in running most of them so far But there are a few here and there that i have issues with.

My problem is that a few of the larger games come up with the can't allocate expmem or shadowmem error and won't run, it seems strange as there has been some 4+ disk games i have had run ok from the whd versions, example dune2. Some larger games do have some black screen load pauses between levels but that does not worry me greatly.

One example of a whd version game that i have these issues with is Pinball hazard ecs, it is only a 3 disk game but when i try to launch it, i get the shadowmem error.

I have looked around quite a few forums about the expmem and shadowmem errors but i am still not sure what i could try to fix them, is there a launch command i could try to disable something in particular?

As mentioned i am not worried about a few load pauses here and there as data gets swapped around in ram, i just want to be able to run them ok. Also by the way i have already tried disabling the preload option on them and they still come up with the same error, so that rules out any preloading issues.

Any suggestions are welcome on how to fix this, or is it simply because some whd games require more then 4mb of ram?

Thanks, Han.

[fitzsteve]

What version of WHDLoad are you using? I think 16.9 had an issue with pre-load (I'm guessing you have pre-load switched on)

For Games that you do not have enough Ram for a full preload, they should still work giving the pausing you mention, but the game should still load.

I think this was solved in 17.0+

[hansel75]

Hi, wow that was quick! I edited my post just before i saw your reply to say i was using whd 17.1, so yes i am using 17.1!

Thanks, Han.

[fitzsteve]

Originally Posted by hansel75

Hi, wow that was quick! I edited my post just before i saw your reply to say i was using whd 17.1, so yes i am using 17.1!

Thanks, Han.

No probs! Can you try an effected game without preload (go to tooltypes and disable preload or take it out)

Hopefully that helps with the effected games

[hansel75]

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

No probs! Can you try an effected game without preload (go to tooltypes and disable preload or take it out)

Hopefully that helps with the effected games

Hi and thanks again. I have just ran a few tests with disabling the preload option, i double checked the games icon information to make sure it had saved my edit/delete of the preload command properly, and it definitely has no preload activated for these tests.

I tried Top Gear 2 ecs, the readme says it needs 1mb chip and 2.8mb fast ram, with preload on i get the expmem error, then after i deleted the preload entry and saved, it still gives me the same error.

Pinball hazard ecs is another one, but i get the shadowmem error instead, with or without preload activated. And it's requirements are only 2mb chip and .5mb other.

As mentioned before i have actually run some whd games that have larger requirements then the 2 games mentioned above, so it seems a little unusual.

There are a few other games that do the same thing, there quite rare and i usually use the floppy version instead through my HxC FloppyEmulator, but i would prefer to use the whd versions for the convenience if possible.

Also i have tried booting into the classic wb minimum startup mode to free up as much ram as i can when launching these problematic games, and i can get 2mb chip spare, and around 1.83mb fast ram spare, which would seem to fulfill these games requirements needs.

Han.

[fitzsteve]

Hi han,

I'll try these Games under WinUAE with the same settings as your real Amiga and see if I can get them working, I'll report back

By the way Kipper2k sells cheap 4mb Ram boards for A600:

http://kipper2k.com/amigaforsale/

This would certainly help in the long term & you can still use your SRAM card as well

[mailman]

For sure the problem is with the memory. What type of expansion do you have?

[hansel75]

Originally Posted by mailman

For sure the problem is with the memory. What type of expansion do you have?

Hi, i have the 1mb chip expansion in the trapdoor for 2mb chip, and i have a 2mb melcard sram in the pcmcia slot. So 4mb all up!

Fitzsteve, i think i will look at getting one of kippers 4mb internal cards soon, so would that give me 8mb total ram with what i have currently, wow that would make a beastly A600

Thanks, Han.

[fitzsteve]

Originally Posted by hansel75

Hi, i have the 1mb chip expansion in the trapdoor for 2mb chip, and i have a 2mb melcard sram in the pcmcia slot. So 4mb all up!

Fitzsteve, i think i will look at getting one of kippers 4mb internal cards soon, so would that give me 8mb total ram with what i have currently, wow that would make a beastly A600

Thanks, Han.

Indeed the extra Ram really helps

And for the price it's really worth the upgrade.

I didn't get a chance to fire up WinUAE and test last night but I will try to later today.

Steve.

[hansel75]

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

Indeed the extra Ram really helps

And for the price it's really worth the upgrade.

I didn't get a chance to fire up WinUAE and test last night but I will try to later today.

Steve.

Hi, i just setup an A600 configuration in Winuae that is identical to my real 4mb A600, and i tested both Whdload versions of Top gear and Pinball hazard with and without preload. And i get the same errors as mentioned above as on my real A600.

Seems like more ram is the way to go, at least i can still use the floppy versions for now.

Thanks, Han.

[fitzsteve]

Originally Posted by hansel75

Hi, i just setup an A600 configuration in Winuae that is identical to my real 4mb A600, and i tested both Whdload versions of Top gear and Pinball hazard with and without preload. And i get the same errors as mentioned above as on my real A600.

Seems like more ram is the way to go, at least i can still use the floppy versions for now.

Thanks, Han.

If you increase the fast ram to 4mb or 6mb do they then work?

Are you using ECS & A500/A600 version of 3.1? i.e the exect same environment?

[hansel75]

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

If you increase the fast ram to 4mb or 6mb do they then work?

Are you using ECS & A500/A600 version of 3.1? i.e the exect same environment?

Hi! Yes in Winuae i was using an ecs environment with the A600 version of the ks3.1 rom, and i had the ram setup the same as my real amiga, 2mb chip and 2mb fast. Everything was setup exactly like my real A600.

I did not try testing it with more ram, if i get time tonight i will try those particular games through Winuae again, but this time with more ram, something like 8mb total and see if that fixes the issues.

And if that does fix it, then i presume i just need to get more ram into my A600, like the kipper2k 4mb kit you mentioned!

Han.

[mailman]

Originally Posted by hansel75

Hi, i just setup an A600 configuration in Winuae that is identical to my real 4mb A600, and i tested both Whdload versions of Top gear and Pinball hazard with and without preload. And i get the same errors as mentioned above as on my real A600.

Seems like more ram is the way to go, at least i can still use the floppy versions for now.

Maybe you should try to run the game without s-s.

[Wepl]

Originally Posted by hansel75

My problem is that a few of the larger games come up with the can't allocate expmem or shadowmem error and won't run, it seems strange as there has been some 4+ disk games i have had run ok from the whd versions, example dune2. Some larger games do have some black screen load pauses between levels but that does not worry me greatly.

One example of a whd version game that i have these issues with is Pinball hazard ecs, it is only a 3 disk game but when i try to launch it, i get the shadowmem error.

This game requires 2 MB Chip (can be seen here: WHDLoad Slave information). I assume that some memory at the end of your chip memory is used, therefore WHDLoad needs 2 MB continuous memory to swap this out. And this fails.

Originally Posted by hansel75

Any suggestions are welcome on how to fix this, or is it simply because some whd games require more then 4mb of ram?

Only more memory will help with the games requiring a lot memory.

[Wepl]

Originally Posted by fitzsteve

What version of WHDLoad are you using? I think 16.9 had an issue with pre-load (I'm guessing you have pre-load switched on)

For Games that you do not have enough Ram for a full preload, they should still work giving the pausing you mention, but the game should still load.

I think this was solved in 17.0+

PreLoad happens much later than allocating ShadowMem. Also PreLoad should not influence if a game runs at all (sometimes it does because some game are not working correctly if interrupted by loading files from disk in-between).

[cybermat]

Hello,
i ran into dos error 103 on preload with WHDLOAD version 17.1 , it's all ok with 16.8 and 17.
i didn't try 16.9 because i know it has problem with PRELOAD feature.

I never had such an issue.

I ran with game SLAMTILT i tried the 3.4 and 3.5 version, same problem.

I'm using Gamebase Amiga 1.6, i repeat never had this issue before installing WHDLOAD 17.1

Please let me know if it's just a configuration problem of my system!

[Retro-Nerd]

I can confirm this DOS error #103 too in Gamebase 1.6+WHDLoad 17.1 for Slamt Tilt. Though a 17.1 beta, dated from 17.06.2012, works fine. WinUAE Ram = 2MB Chip, 8MB Fast.

[Retroplay]

It must be a Gamebase specific error (WHD script perhaps ?) as it works fine when launched in ClassicWB + WHDLoad 17.1.5206.

[Retro-Nerd]

That's true. Works fine in ClassicWB Lite and WHDLoad 17.1.5206. With the same Ram settings. Strange, i can't see any suspicious in the WHDLoad settings for Slam Tilt in Gamebase.

Edit: Even more strange. I've deleted the preload size entry, which WHDLoad sets automatically into the game icon, and now i get the same error in ClassicWB too with 17.1.5206.

[cybermat]

I ran with Winuae Loader and i'm able to play with version 17.1.5206

How could it be possible that all the versions but 17.1.5206 are able to work with Gamebase ? If it's Gamebase related of course...