Roadshow, 3com pcmcia and interrupts

[Lisko]

Hi, I have an A1200/030 with an etherlink III pcmcia network card that uses the 3com 3c589 driver. I'm currently using genesis tcp/ip stack. This cards have a problem with interrupts and by default most whdload installs hang on black screen if the tcp/ip stack is running. A workaround is to use a custom whdload startup and cleanup script to automatically disable and re-enable the stack and with genesis this works fine by using amitcp:bin/offline and online commands. I started to think about roadshow and the idea of using a more recent, still supported and better stack. Prior to buying it I wanted to test it was working well with my configuration but even after changing whdload's scripts to use roadshow commands to go online and offline, a lot of whdload slaves still hang on black screen. Am I missing something or my only option is to wait if ever roadshow will be fixed for my card and driver? Because I like to have the ip stack running at boot, currently I reverted back to genesis given also the fact that the speed was more or less the same.

[Samurai_Crow]

WHDLoad takes over the system. The AmigaOS isn't even active when WHDLoad is operating. You're lucky it even restores to a state that Genesis can reenable itself.

[utri007]

There is a scripts for Roadshow also, so those are only possibility use whdload games, with running TCP/IP stack.

[Lisko]

Originally Posted by utri007

There is a scripts for Roadshow also, so those are only possibility use whdload games, with running TCP/IP stack.

Yeah but online and offline scripts from roadshow I tried didn't work well for me.

[redblade]

what whdload game needs access to the tcp/ip stack, and is it possible to go offline while you use whdload or are you downloading in the background / running a bbs?

[Samurai_Crow]

Originally Posted by redblade

what whdload game needs access to the tcp/ip stack, and is it possible to go offline while you use whdload or are you downloading in the background / running a bbs?

He only uses TCP/IP when he is NOT using WHDLoad. He's trying to disable it using scripts when he loads a WHDLoad game and then reenable it when the game is done.

[thomas]

Originally Posted by Lisko

Yeah but online and offline scripts from roadshow I tried didn't work well for me.

The issue with Roadshow is that it does not support "offline". When you switch Genesis to offline, it is still running, just does not have a network connection.

The only way to stop Roadshow from having network connections is to shut it down completely. But a TCP/IP stack cannot be shut down if programs are still using TCP/IP. That's especially bad if you use something like SMBFS because SMBFS cannot shut down if some files or directories on the network share are still open.

[gdonner]

Originally Posted by thomas

The issue with Roadshow is that it does not support "offline". When you switch Genesis to offline, it is still running, just does not have a network connection.

The only way to stop Roadshow from having network connections is to shut it down completely. But a TCP/IP stack cannot be shut down if programs are still using TCP/IP. That's especially bad if you use something like SMBFS because SMBFS cannot shut down if some files or directories on the network share are still open.

Maybe Olaf Barthel will add this ability in a future update to Roadshow? If Genesis can truly go offline but still be running, then I would imagine Roadshow might also be able to do it too?

[klx300r]

@ Lisko


had some issues and all solved by a little program called Roadie on aminet

[patrik]

Originally Posted by thomas

The issue with Roadshow is that it does not support "offline". When you switch Genesis to offline, it is still running, just does not have a network connection.

The only way to stop Roadshow from having network connections is to shut it down completely. But a TCP/IP stack cannot be shut down if programs are still using TCP/IP. That's especially bad if you use something like SMBFS because SMBFS cannot shut down if some files or directories on the network share are still open.

Have had good luck with the offline/online commands shipped with Roadshow. They work directly on the sana2 device, so for it to work, the sana2 device must disable the interrupts when going offline, else there will still be lockups in whdload. If that is the case, it might be possible to send a bug report to the driver author.

As Roadshow does not have to shut down, for example smbfs mounts will keep working after you exit a whdload slave.

[npagonis73]

As klx300r said, Roadie solves the problem. I also use Roadshow which is a lot faster and so much more updated than all other tcp/ip stacks. I had the same issue as you describe in your post and i ended up using Roadie (which is a GUI for Roadshow) and what i do is just click "Disconnect" button on Roadie, wait 3-4 seconds to disconnect and then you can run any whdload game you want without problems. After finishing playing, you can just click "Connect" on Roadie and you are back online within seconds.

[patrik]

@thomas, @npagonis73:

I am using Roadshow with an X-Surf 100 card and have WHDLoad configured like this:

9.Work:Spel> search s:WHDLoad.prefs NONUM PATTERN=exec#?(clean|start) 
ExecuteStartup=Execute S:WHDLoad-Startup        ;command to execute on WHDLoad startup
ExecuteCleanup=Execute S:WHDLoad-Cleanup        ;command to execute on WHDLoad exit
9.Work:Spel> type s:WHDLoad-Startup  
;
; example script to be used with WHDLoad option ExecuteStartup
; - stop all software which can cause interrupts with external hardware
; - optionally free memory to allow WHDLoad better PreLoad
; - adapt emulation parameters
;

offline x-surf-100.device
9.Work:Spel> type s:WHDLoad-Cleanup  
;
; example script to be used with WHDLoad option ExecuteCleanup
; - restore emulation settings
; - restart all software which has been stopped previously with ExecuteStartup
;

online x-surf-100.device
9.Work:Spel>

This makes it completely transparent, I just start a whdload slave and it automatically offlines the X-Surf and then when exiting the slave, it automatically onlines it. Afterwards, smbfs, synergyclient etc still lives and continues to work.