FS-UAE preview for Raspberry Pi 4

[FrodeSolheim]

FS-UAE now runs quite well on Raspberry Pi 4, especially if you overclock it to 2.0 GHz. Of course, how much raw power you need depend on what you emulate. Amiga 500 cycle-exact emulation can be quite demanding.

Download: FS-UAE_4.0.57-master_Linux_ARMv8.tar.xz

Please remember that this is an in-development version 4 of FS-UAE, not yet ready with all features (see https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=106562). Also, I haven't done any builds of FS-UAE Launcher yet (it runs fine on the Pi 4 though).

Recommended setup

• Overclock your Raspberry Pi 4 to 2.0 Ghz.
• Use a cooling solution which allows you to run at full speed over time.
• Make sure the CPU is running at full speed always, and not on demand.
• Run FS-UAE from the console for best performance.
• Connect to an HDMI display capable of 1920x1080@50Hz for smooth scrolling.

Notes

• The background (bezel) is disabled by default to improve performance.
• 16-bit color is used by defaut to improve performance.
• Some "color bleed" can be seen at the edges of the emulated screen. Currently left this way to improve performance (will be fixed).

Overclocking to 2 Ghz

By overclocking your Pi to 2.0 Ghz, you can run most Amiga 500 (and 68000) software in cycle exact mode without slowdown. You can of course use the Pi with a lower clock speed if it runs fast enough for you.

Make sure the Raspberry Pi 4 is sufficiently cool

If the Raspberry Pi 4 gets too hot, it will automatically throttle down the
system and this will kill performance. There are tools you can use to monitor the temperature and see if your RPI4 is being throttled.

The Raspberry Pi 400 can in my experience run at 2 Ghz constantly without overheating. And even better; the cooling is passive, so there is no fan noise!

Set performance CPU governor

If the CPU is allowed to throttle up on demand only, the timing of FS-UAE can be affected (threads not responding quickly enough after going to sleep). So I recommend switching to the `performance` CPU governor while running FS-UAE.

sudo apt install cpufrequtils
sudo cpufreq-set -g performance

You can then confirm with

cpufreq-info

that your Raspberry Pi runs at 2 Ghz. This is not a permanent setting, a reboot will clear it. So remember to re-apply the setting before running FS-UAE after a reboot.

This is mostly important if you want stable frame rates (and especially for vsync).

X11 vs console (KMSDRM)

Run FS-UAE from the console for best performance. When running under X11, tearing can be observed even when using v-sync, and there are also stuttering (missed v-blanks) occurring quite often with X11 (about every second?).

UPDATE 2021-10.21: The situation seems much better with updated Raspberry Pi OS. Tearing seems to be gone? However, there is still some occasional stuttering compared to running from console.

Note about v-sync and smooth scrolling

By default, the Raspberry Pi version tries to switch to 1920x1080@50Hz when running from the console (using the KMSDRM SDL2 backend). It will also automatically enable vsync in this case. This will be configurable later, of course.

[FrodeSolheim]

I've also built plugins for the Raspberry Pi 4:

CAPSImg_5.1.2_Linux_ARMv8.tar.xz

QEMU-UAE_3.8.6_Linux_ARMv8.tar.xz (Haven't tested this one - and possibly pointless, performance-wise)

[DisasterIncarna]

compiled fs-uae a while back for my Pi400 (inc launcher), runs pretty good, 1 question about the pi4/pi400 tho, i recall other uae ports as well as winuae ofc, can use programs like winlaunch (native code stuff?) to launch programs on the host system, i never really found much info on this regarding FS-UAE, can it use the likes of WinLaunch?

Only ask as this would be very handy exactly for Pi solutions to create a bootable usb that kicks up straight into FS-UAE, being able to launch chrome/vlc would be a godsend for those systems to make the emulated amiga more able to do normal day to day things.

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by DisasterIncarna

Only ask as this would be very handy exactly for Pi solutions to create a bootable usb that kicks up straight into FS-UAE, being able to launch chrome/vlc would be a godsend for those systems.

Not out of the box, not it is not difficult to do. Also, it is actually possible to do without changes to FS-UAE, since FS-UAE supports loading host plugins with native code which can be called into from the Amiga ("uaenative.library" - not actually used to my knowledge, but still...)

It gets more "difficult" when starting to ask questions like:
- Should it do more than just launch programs?
- Minimize itself, remove fullscreen status?
- Does anyway expect it to be able to access files from within the Amiga - i.e. should you be able to launch vlc from the Amiga with the path to a video file from within the Amiga? This could be somewhat trivial if using a directory hard drive at least.

People have been asking about this from time to time, but no-one has come with a detailed proposal on how such integration should work in practice, so I haven't bothered with it.

One would need to write a host plugin for this, as well as an m68k program using this plugin. I can help with this if there is a good and though-trough use-case for it.

[DisasterIncarna]

just need simple "launch abc/xyz" basically just WinLaunch (to launch most standalone programs like a browser/whatever the amiga lacks bigtime, and a browser is exactly the main thing, i believe this is what amikit uses for its rabbithole feature), its instructions (for winuae) is...

Installation
============
- Copy winlaunch to c: on the Amiga side (or somewhere in your path).
- Copy winlaunch.alib into a drawer named 'winuae_dll' (create it if it does 
  not exist) in your WinUAE folder on the Windows side (eg,
  c:\winuae\winuae_dll).

can that same dll file be seen/used by FS-UAE as well to get it working?

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by DisasterIncarna

can that same dll file be seen/used by FS-UAE as well to get it working?

No, the original native interface in WinUAE is very win32/WinUAE-specific. The replacement uaenative interface should work in both FS-UAE and WinUAE, so someone can create a "launch" program which works in both. You'd need to compile the host "dll" separately for all desired architectures (Windows_x86-64, Linux_x86-64, Linux_ARMv8, etc).

[DisasterIncarna]

ah ok, cheers for the info.

[Dic_Ray]

It's so cool to see this great emulator on the Raspi. Hopefully I can test it this evening.

What about the Arcade mode? Would be a pleasure to play my games from the couch and choose it from the cover flow view.

[DisasterIncarna]

I tried the Portable Mode option, out of interest, where do saved screenshots now appear? doesnt seem to be in the old position on my desktop.

[jbl007]

Originally Posted by FrodeSolheim

[*] The background (bezel) is disabled by default to improve performance.

No, its not. Posting this from the pi now, it's running right next to the browser window.
Edit: to clarify... Running the binary you linked in this thread on rasberrry pi os 32bit.
The Manjaro compiled I testet some weeks ago did in fact disable the backgroud/leds as far as I remember.

From another Thread:

Please consider testing performance of FS-UAE 4 on the Pi 4 instead of FS-UAE 3

That's what I did. Freshly compiled from git master in Manjaro AARCH64.

I haven't tested a lot of stuff, but it seems to run A500 cycle exact well enough at least at 2 Ghz. If you have some examples of extra demanding games or demos to try out

Basically all demos with roto-zoom or plasma effects for example https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=61182
FPS drop down to 38 in CE mode.

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by Dic_Ray

What about the Arcade mode? Would be a pleasure to play my games from the couch and choose it from the cover flow view.

Not yet at least. FS-UAE runs best from the console, and I don't think running Arcade there and launching FS-UAE will work nicely together (I assume the Arcade would have to be able to let "go of the display" before running FS-UAE, but I am not sure). I will be looking into this in the future.

Originally Posted by DisasterIncarna

I tried the Portable Mode option, out of interest, where do saved screenshots now appear? doesnt seem to be in the old position on my desktop.

Most likely, I haven't implemented screenshots for FS-UAE 4 yet (don't actually recall).

Originally Posted by jbl007

No, its not. Posting this from the pi now, it's running right next to the browser window.

Well, there is single-colored background and lets, but not the gradient rendered on other platforms

Originally Posted by jbl007

Basically all demos with roto-zoom or plasma effects for example https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=61182
FPS drop down to 38 in CE mode.

Thanks for the example! Yes.. it ran very nicely with stable v-vsync but unfortunately not during the plasma effect, and also at some point during the credits when there was a zoom effect. Maybe it can be optimized further, not sure. But still quite happy with the performance .)

(P.S: Running with the performance overlay Alt+O is a very nice way to visualize the performance. Much better than the crappy overlay in FS-UAE 3 )

[jbl007]

Originally Posted by FrodeSolheim

Well, there is single-colored background and lets, but not the gradient rendered on other platforms

Ah! That background...

Now I got the launcher up and running. It's a bit fiddly to set it up but it works well.
If someone is interested I could maybe write a script to to install the launcher+fs-uae

[Solskogen]

JIT is not available, right?

[FrodeSolheim]

Originally Posted by Solskogen

JIT is not available, right?

Right!

[Muadebe]

Excellent, will have to give this a try later.

[URS Retro]

Works well. I overclocked up to 2.1. Used A500 1.3 and loaded up Lemmings, Wings, EotB, and a few others and all worked fine.

TD Bauer
URS Retro

[URS Retro]

Still having issues with the CAPSImg file ad running IPF images.

I am showing the CAPSImg and the QEMU-UAE are coming up as detected in settings under the Program tab, but when I try to run IPF images the emulator tells me the needed files are not loaded.

I placed both files in the Program folder, should they be in the Sytem folder?

[DisasterIncarna]

Originally Posted by FrodeSolheim

Not out of the box, not it is not difficult to do. Also, it is actually possible to do without changes to FS-UAE, since FS-UAE supports loading host plugins with native code which can be called into from the Amiga ("uaenative.library" - not actually used to my knowledge, but still...)

It gets more "difficult" when starting to ask questions like:
- Should it do more than just launch programs?
- Minimize itself, remove fullscreen status?
- Does anyway expect it to be able to access files from within the Amiga - i.e. should you be able to launch vlc from the Amiga with the path to a video file from within the Amiga? This could be somewhat trivial if using a directory hard drive at least.

People have been asking about this from time to time, but no-one has come with a detailed proposal on how such integration should work in practice, so I haven't bothered with it.

One would need to write a host plugin for this, as well as an m68k program using this plugin. I can help with this if there is a good and though-trough use-case for it.

Is a new method needed? can FS-UAE use the same method WinUAE uses?

part of the release notes for WinUAE 3.5.0 states

- winlaunch.lib is now built-in feature and is also 64-bit compatible. (useable in settings when ticking "allow native code")

^ Can this code just be adapted into FS-UAE? the amiga side of things is already out there in the form of https://aminet.net/package/util/misc/winlaunch

If the winlaunch.lib side of things can be sorted/built in like WinUAE managed then we have an already useful/functioning feature, i dont know what others are expecting, but just being able to launch say Firefox or VLC is more than enough, no deep integration/etc is required, just the simple command launch. tbh a functioning browser is 1 of few things classic systems need a major crutch like winlaunch to just use the host systems browser(s), id be happy with just that 1 plain ability.

[wiisoldier]

Can I start off by saying a big thanks to FrodeSolheim for the work
on FS-UAE. As far as emulators go in the linux world, it is the best.

Add the fact that it can be used on arm64 with a raspberry-pi is amazing.
And, yes, it works just great. I am using version 3.0.5 and I love it.

So, as this is my first post here's a little bit about me. I owned an Amiga
a1200 with an 80mb hard drive back in the early 1990's which I sold in about
2001. It was my first foray into computing and I am soooo sorry that I sold
it. I had my first Windows PC in the late 1990's and I really wanted to open
up the possibilities of what the internet had to offer, so funding towards the
PC upgrades came from the sale of the Amiga.

In all honesty, I hadn't done anything Amiga based until about two months ago.
I had seen a video on Youtube about emulation and decided to make use of a
raspberry pi 4b to look into it. Fortunately I have been using linux for
the last 12 years so getting my head around the instal and usage was quite
easy and the fact that raspbian/raspberryOS is built around the debian/ubuntu
kernel was a bonus.

I found all the software I needed online and soon discovered a plethora of bonuses
including my favourite collection of LSD Docs and a great collection of games.

So, to the point of this post. >>>>>>

I wanted to see if I could relive the days of my old a1200 with it's 80mb harddrive
booting straight into workbench, on my pi.

I looked at youtube and many other emulation platforms but could find no info.
I could find many that would emulate the Amiga and let you start many games from
a simple interface using amiberry or FS-uae but nothing that would let me boot
my raspberry pi straight into my good old Amiga workbench 3.1.

I was quite disappointed, to say the least.

So with my software and pi in hand I set myself the task of making it happen.

I bought spare micro-sd cards and grabbed others where I could and got
programming.

The first problem I could see was that it was pointless to be able to boot
into workbench but have no way of getting at the underlying operating
system. It had to use emualtion as there is no way of building any Amiga
on arm64 architecture without it. I could see the benefit of pimiga (a great
piece of work by Chris Edwards) and I wanted to do the same thing but with a
more "classic" amiga feel. After playing around with a few emulators I realised
that the easiest and best to adopt was FS-uae.

To cut a long story short I now have a raspberry pi 4b that will boot straight
into my workbench 3.2. It took two weeks of playing about and configuring but
it works.

My pi boots into a populated debian desktop with controls to set it to boot into
either an Amiga or back into raspberry-os.

It looks like this:



The FS_UAE launcher will open as usual but the START-AMIGA button will reboot
the pi into my Amiga workbench using FS-uae as emulation. When I want to revert
back to my pi for other work I just hit the RESET-PI button and I am back to my
usual desktop on start-up. As FS-uae can have different configurations, I have a
button to change between a simple A500 boot all the way up to an a4000 workbench.
I just need to build the configurations first. I built the basic operating system
on less than 5.6GB which can easily be written to any micro-SD card of at least
8GB. I spent time developing it to work flawlessly with any size card by adding
the GParted tool to expand the partition on the card.

So now I had built it, what could I do with it. I thought "all the software is free"
I should make my version of this free too. So here it is:

https://mega.nz/file/tuhRFKZL#r9BR6T...iF1qa03wYy074k

It's a 1.58GB download and you can use the raspberry pi imager software to write
it to any card of at least 8GB. There are no roms included, no software and no
operating systems for the Amiga. But I guess that if you are reading this you
have your own. There is a standard FS-UAE folder which you can add all your
files to and get the system working in less that twenty minutes. The OS is
raspberryOS and the user and password are "pi" and "raspberry". There is a basic
set of instructions assuming that you already have some knowledge of using
a raspberry pi.

I could have written a full set of instructions on how to do this, but it
would have taken longer than writing this and uploading the image while
I do so.

So if you are a pi user and a fan of the Amiga please download the image.
There is nothing on there to harm you or your pi as it's all based around
simple software with no nasties included. Write it to a minimum 8GB micro-sd
and boot up your pi. Follow the instructions to add your roms and build a
workbench, copy your FS-UAE config file as per instructions, click the
CHANGE-AMIGA button and then the START-AMIGA button to see your workbench
come to life when the pi reboots. When you are finished in your workbench
just close it as usual using F12 to go back to the raspberry desktop. I
suggest using the RESET-PI button before you do anything else as there
may be some processes running that need to be stopped before you attempt
any usual things on raspbian.

I would really appreciate feedback, both good and bad, and any advice
on how to make this better. My linux knowledge is pretty basic/fair and it
took a while to get the programming right.

If you need any help on this just PM me and I'll get back to you. The
instructions are quite simple but you should have a good knowledge of
using FS-uae and the pi before attempting this. Follow the instructions
on setting your audio and resizing your card before you start, and test
your configuration before you commit to it.

Finally, if you use this, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. To be able
to just switch on a power button and see my old workbench pop up before
me, is a joy. I hope to be able to use it for many years to come.

Thanks again to FrodeSolheim and to everyone at eab and raspberry.

wii

[Octopus66]

Originally Posted by wiisoldier

Can I start off by saying a big thanks to FrodeSolheim for the work
on FS-UAE. As far as emulators go in the linux world, it is the best.

Add the fact that it can be used on arm64 with a raspberry-pi is amazing.
And, yes, it works just great. I am using version 3.0.5 and I love it.

So, as this is my first post here's a little bit about me. I owned an Amiga
a1200 with an 80mb hard drive back in the early 1990's which I sold in about
2001. It was my first foray into computing and I am soooo sorry that I sold
it. I had my first Windows PC in the late 1990's and I really wanted to open
up the possibilities of what the internet had to offer, so funding towards the
PC upgrades came from the sale of the Amiga.

In all honesty, I hadn't done anything Amiga based until about two months ago.
I had seen a video on Youtube about emulation and decided to make use of a
raspberry pi 4b to look into it. Fortunately I have been using linux for
the last 12 years so getting my head around the instal and usage was quite
easy and the fact that raspbian/raspberryOS is built around the debian/ubuntu
kernel was a bonus.

I found all the software I needed online and soon discovered a plethora of bonuses
including my favourite collection of LSD Docs and a great collection of games.

So, to the point of this post. >>>>>>

I wanted to see if I could relive the days of my old a1200 with it's 80mb harddrive
booting straight into workbench, on my pi.

I looked at youtube and many other emulation platforms but could find no info.
I could find many that would emulate the Amiga and let you start many games from
a simple interface using amiberry or FS-uae but nothing that would let me boot
my raspberry pi straight into my good old Amiga workbench 3.1.

I was quite disappointed, to say the least.

So with my software and pi in hand I set myself the task of making it happen.

I bought spare micro-sd cards and grabbed others where I could and got
programming.

The first problem I could see was that it was pointless to be able to boot
into workbench but have no way of getting at the underlying operating
system. It had to use emualtion as there is no way of building any Amiga
on arm64 architecture without it. I could see the benefit of pimiga (a great
piece of work by Chris Edwards) and I wanted to do the same thing but with a
more "classic" amiga feel. After playing around with a few emulators I realised
that the easiest and best to adopt was FS-uae.

To cut a long story short I now have a raspberry pi 4b that will boot straight
into my workbench 3.2. It took two weeks of playing about and configuring but
it works.

My pi boots into a populated debian desktop with controls to set it to boot into
either an Amiga or back into raspberry-os.

It looks like this:



The FS_UAE launcher will open as usual but the START-AMIGA button will reboot
the pi into my Amiga workbench using FS-uae as emulation. When I want to revert
back to my pi for other work I just hit the RESET-PI button and I am back to my
usual desktop on start-up. As FS-uae can have different configurations, I have a
button to change between a simple A500 boot all the way up to an a4000 workbench.
I just need to build the configurations first. I built the basic operating system
on less than 5.6GB which can easily be written to any micro-SD card of at least
8GB. I spent time developing it to work flawlessly with any size card by adding
the GParted tool to expand the partition on the card.

So now I had built it, what could I do with it. I thought "all the software is free"
I should make my version of this free too. So here it is:

https://mega.nz/file/tuhRFKZL#r9BR6T...iF1qa03wYy074k

It's a 1.58GB download and you can use the raspberry pi imager software to write
it to any card of at least 8GB. There are no roms included, no software and no
operating systems for the Amiga. But I guess that if you are reading this you
have your own. There is a standard FS-UAE folder which you can add all your
files to and get the system working in less that twenty minutes. The OS is
raspberryOS and the user and password are "pi" and "raspberry". There is a basic
set of instructions assuming that you already have some knowledge of using
a raspberry pi.

I could have written a full set of instructions on how to do this, but it
would have taken longer than writing this and uploading the image while
I do so.

So if you are a pi user and a fan of the Amiga please download the image.
There is nothing on there to harm you or your pi as it's all based around
simple software with no nasties included. Write it to a minimum 8GB micro-sd
and boot up your pi. Follow the instructions to add your roms and build a
workbench, copy your FS-UAE config file as per instructions, click the
CHANGE-AMIGA button and then the START-AMIGA button to see your workbench
come to life when the pi reboots. When you are finished in your workbench
just close it as usual using F12 to go back to the raspberry desktop. I
suggest using the RESET-PI button before you do anything else as there
may be some processes running that need to be stopped before you attempt
any usual things on raspbian.

I would really appreciate feedback, both good and bad, and any advice
on how to make this better. My linux knowledge is pretty basic/fair and it
took a while to get the programming right.

If you need any help on this just PM me and I'll get back to you. The
instructions are quite simple but you should have a good knowledge of
using FS-uae and the pi before attempting this. Follow the instructions
on setting your audio and resizing your card before you start, and test
your configuration before you commit to it.

Finally, if you use this, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. To be able
to just switch on a power button and see my old workbench pop up before
me, is a joy. I hope to be able to use it for many years to come.

Thanks again to FrodeSolheim and to everyone at eab and raspberry.

wii

This looks great - will give this a try soon thanks