[PROBLEM] Amiga Forever 2012 R3 scales pixels weird - how do I adjust it?

Hi everyone.

Well, I guess the topic says it all. Just having installed Amiga Forever 2012R3, I'm having issues with the resolution. When I start either one of the pre-configured Amiga environments, Amiga Forever opens a 800x600 px resolution Windows display and scales the Amiga screen in a really weird way. Here's what it looks like (the screenshot is clickable):



As the screenshot shows, the screen isn't properly scaled resulting in distorted/non-square pixels.

Now, I've tried to fiddle around with the (few) display options available in the Amiga Forever 2012 R3 to no avail. It doesn't really matter whether or not I choose "Use hardware fullscreen modes" or untick it and play around with the different "Scaling" options. I do get the best result using "Integer" scaling (which makes the pixels square), however "Integer" scaling makes part of the Amiga screen vanish.

Any solutions to this problem? Is it possible to somehow tell the underlaying WinUAE engine to use other fullscreen options? Any suggestions are much appreciated.

For the record, I'm on an Windows 7 (x86)-based ASUS G55V laptop with Nvidia GTX 660M-graphics, if that is of interest.

[mcb]

Thanks for your feedback.

Is this happening with WinUAE 2.5? You can replace the .exe in C:\Program Files (x86)\Cloanto\Amiga Forever\WinUAE or similar.

Under Tools/Options/emulation, I would propose to disable the hardware fullscreen option, and make sure that the newer Direct3D is selected (towards the end of the options). So at least we have one scenario to focus on.

What is the native resolution of this display, and are Windows Control Panel settings for this display set to that native resolution?

Originally Posted by mcb

Thanks for your feedback.

Is this happening with WinUAE 2.5? You can replace the .exe in C:\Program Files (x86)\Cloanto\Amiga Forever\WinUAE or similar.

Under Tools/Options/emulation, I would propose to disable the hardware fullscreen option, and make sure that the newer Direct3D is selected (towards the end of the options). So at least we have one scenario to focus on.

What is the native resolution of this display, and are Windows Control Panel settings for this display set to that native resolution?

mcb,

thank your for your help! From the looks of it, Amiga Forever 2012 R3 is actually running WinUAE 2.4.0 (2012.03.29). I should add that I haven't touched any of the Amiga Forever software components, so everything is untouched. I take it that Cloanto is meaning to update its WinUAE engine eventually?

As far as disabling the hardware fullscreen option and enabling Direct3D instead, I'm happy to say it did solve the scaling problem! However, it managed to introduce a new problem in the progress. Please consider the following, all new and clickable screenshot taken after enabling Direct 3D and disabling the hardware fullscreen option:



Like the screenshot shows, the Workbench screen looks nice and just about perfect apart from one detail - I can't see the screen title bar. I am able to drag the screen down, however in its default position it doesn't show at all, just like the screenshot shows.

I'm running Windows 7 x64 in 1920x1080 px. It is a native display size to the laptop I'm using so no weird patches, hacks or other Windows programs are adjusting or tampering with the Windows resolution in any way (in fact, I pretty much run a clean Windows installation with almost no third party patches/programs at all).

As far as the Amiga environment goes, the screenshots I've shown in this thread are both from the standard, stock and totally untouched A3000 emulation.

Any idea why the title bar isn't showing? Again, I'm really new to AmigaForever and WinUAE, so any advice is really appreciated (for the record, I'd like to set up a nice environment to complete a classic RPG this Christmas - and maybe (just maybe) dust off the old SAS/C compiler as well).

[mcb]

I am running SAS/C in an emulated A-3000 so I feel close to your effort

The reason why I asked to try with the latest WinUAE.exe 2.5 is that quite a few issues have been fixed in the past weeks. We are going to push the update in a few days, after the dust settles a little bit and we are sure there are no last-minute issues. So for now you have to copy the .exe by hand.

If you right-click the system entry and select Edit, then go to the Configuration tab, does it show Top: 88 and Height: 512 under Screen Clip? These are the default values for the vertical offset, and I show them working fine.

Mike

Originally Posted by mcb

I am running SAS/C in an emulated A-3000 so I feel close to your effort

The reason why I asked to try with the latest WinUAE.exe 2.5 is that quite a few issues have been fixed in the past weeks. We are going to push the update in a few days, after the dust settles a little bit and we are sure there are no last-minute issues. So for now you have to copy the .exe by hand.

If you right-click the system entry and select Edit, then go to the Configuration tab, does it show Top: 88 and Height: 512 under Screen Clip? These are the default values for the vertical offset, and I show them working fine.

Mike

Nice to hear you too have a passion for SAS/C (which really should be be available to download for free by now, to encourage people to pick up C development in a Amiga-friendly manner).

As far as manually updating WinUAE, I do see your points and the potential benefits from doing so. However, I very much doubt I have to explain all the hassle this would involve. After all, it's not like Windows offers the luxury of just extracting an LhA-archive to the RAM-disk and copy the executable in question to the hard disk. If I can go the "official" and coming upgrade path offered by Cloanto, it would make be a happier camper .

Regarding your question about the Screen Clip dimensions, this is what they look like:



I'd like to emphasize that I haven't changed or altered the default Amiga Forever 2012 R3-settings in any way. That being said, is there a work-around for my version of WinUAE, or should I just be patient and see whether or not the coming WinUAE-update will resolve everything?

[cosmicfrog]

surely you can download the zip of winuae, unpack it, rename your old winuae and replace with new one

[TCD]

Originally Posted by KidCupcake

As far as manually updating WinUAE, I do see your points and the potential benefits from doing so. However, I very much doubt I have to explain all the hassle this would involve. After all, it's not like Windows offers the luxury of just extracting an LhA-archive to the RAM-disk and copy the executable in question to the hard disk.

It's exactly that easy. You just extract http://www.winuae.net/files/WinUAE2500.zip into your Cloanto installation (WinUAE folder).

[cosmicfrog]

yep you don`t really need rename the old one, its just something I am in the habit of doing

[mcb]

Originally Posted by KidCupcake

If I can go the "official" and coming upgrade path offered by Cloanto, it would make be a happier camper .

- Run Amiga Forever
- Select Check for Updates from the Help menu
- Let it update WinUAE

[mcb]

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

It's exactly that easy. You just extract http://www.winuae.net/files/WinUAE2500.zip into your Cloanto installation (WinUAE folder).

To make it even easier we are adding a new feature to the next Amiga Forever update: when you select About/WinUAE from the Help menu, it will have an Open File Location button next to the information for WinUAE.exe.

Originally Posted by mcb

- Run Amiga Forever
- Select Check for Updates from the Help menu
- Let it update WinUAE

CyberDruid, cosmicfrog - thank you for your suggestions.

mcb - guess what? Not only did the update you mention the other day come a lot faster than I expected, but it solved the issue altogether! Here's why the A3000 setup I've been showing in this thread looks like now, after having installed the WinUAE 2.5.0 update (using Amiga Forever 2012's update manager):



Not bad, huh? Not only does Amiga Forever scale the Workbench screen right in 1920x1080 px resolution, but it also centers the Amiga screen really nice along the X- and Y-axis of my laptop display (almost, anyone - the screenshot shows the Workbench screen is shifted somewhat to the right, but I suppose that there's a techincal explanation to that involving the Amiga hardware and not Amiga Forever itself).

It looks like I'm all set for Christmas, no matter if the coming holidays will involve venturing in Ultima IV-engine or venturing in the AmigaOS API:s. mcb, thank you for all of your help - everything definitely worked a lot more smoothly with your assistance!

[mcb]

Very glad to hear that! Big credits go to Toni for his patience, as we worked a lot during the past months to polish aspects such as this one.

Mike