Small asm program in background to reset via joypad?

wairnair · 10 November 2019, 14:47

Hi coders of the Amiga,

I was wondering if it would be possible to make a small program that would run in the background, check for a joypad button combination every few secs, and reset the machine if it is pressed?

It would have to very efficient so that it wouldn't slow down games noticeably.
It would be started from WB.
Target machine is the cd32, to make for a comfy couch-compatible reset button as opposed to the physical one on the machine.
Button combo should be like play+left+both shoulders to possibly avoid any ingame combo.

Unfortunately I don't have the skills to do this (although @mcgeezer is working on it

).

So, could any gentleman do this? Is it technically possible at all?

kamelito · 10 November 2019, 18:11

I don’t think it is possible, if the game is system friendly a program could be use used I guess but you’ll have to load it first and I don’t think many games are system friendly. Maybe with an added hardware...

wairnair · 11 November 2019, 20:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamelito

I don’t think it is possible, if the game is system friendly a program could be use used I guess but you’ll have to load it first and I don’t think many games are system friendly. Maybe with an added hardware...

Ah okay. It's not the end of the world to get up and press a button after all. Thanks for your input.

gurth · 11 November 2019, 21:23

you would still need to get up to change the CD

wairnair · 11 November 2019, 21:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by gurth

you would still need to get up to change the CD

I use a CF card, boot into Workbench with joymouse so that I can control the mouse. Then launch any whdload game just like you would on a desktop Amiga. E. g. using iGame. I also have some hd installs that don't need whdload.
No cd's most of the time

jotd · 11 November 2019, 21:58

CD32load does that. So if you're using a CD32load compilation you're able to reset just by pressing (AFAIR) rev+fwd+all color buttons. You don't have to change the CD either: it's a compilation.

Whdload also has a joypad quit option. Now most updated slaves also can be quit to WB using a joypad combination.

What you're talking about would be possible, though. With games not zeroing the VBR, the program could install & just scan the joypad, then redirect VBR to 0 like whdload/jst do. But that's a lot of work for a minor feature.

Nightshft · 12 November 2019, 00:49

Here is a reset routine i found in the autodocs if someone wants to tinker around with it.

Edit: Assembled it. Works fine -> so now I have a reset.exe in C:

Edit2: No idea how to check the gamepad (not speaking of staying low cpu and system friendly) in asm or blitz (gameb() command?), so sorry for the moment.

wairnair · 14 November 2019, 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotd

Whdload also has a joypad quit option. Now most updated slaves also can be quit to WB using a joypad combination.

Looks like from v18.4 WHDLoad supports quitting by pressing play+forward+reverse. I'll certainly give that a try. That would solve ~3/4 of my quitting needs

jotd · 14 November 2019, 13:13

enable that only if slave itself doesn't have joypad support. If it has joypad support, either it has quit support or it hasn't, in which case don't hesitate to request it since it's a trivial change (if the source of the slave is accessible

)

wairnair · 14 November 2019, 20:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotd

enable that only if slave itself doesn't have joypad support. If it has joypad support, either it has quit support or it hasn't, in which case don't hesitate to request it since it's a trivial change (if the source of the slave is accessible

)

Alright, where should I post quit key requests?

Also -and I know this is offtopic- there's a couple of CD32-specific titles that would play 100% with WHDLoad but don't exist atm. E.g. Frontier, James Pond 3, Pinball Prelude I can quickly think of - these have no proper pad support with WHDLoad but their original versions did AFAIK.
So, can we post requests for these somewhere as well? They're done when they're done, no rush obviously, just asking

jotd · 13 December 2019, 23:03

only answer: mantis.whdload.de

Working on restoring James Pond 3 joypad controls BTW

wairnair · 14 December 2019, 10:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotd

only answer: mantis.whdload.de

OK thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotd

Working on restoring James Pond 3 joypad controls BTW

wow thank you

10 November 2019, 14:47	#1
wairnair Registered User Join Date: Jul 2017 Location: Budapest Posts: 355	Small asm program in background to reset via joypad? Hi coders of the Amiga, I was wondering if it would be possible to make a small program that would run in the background, check for a joypad button combination every few secs, and reset the machine if it is pressed? It would have to very efficient so that it wouldn't slow down games noticeably. It would be started from WB. Target machine is the cd32, to make for a comfy couch-compatible reset button as opposed to the physical one on the machine. Button combo should be like play+left+both shoulders to possibly avoid any ingame combo. Unfortunately I don't have the skills to do this (although @mcgeezer is working on it ). So, could any gentleman do this? Is it technically possible at all?

12 November 2019, 00:49	#7
Nightshft Registered User Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Austria Posts: 617	Here is a reset routine i found in the autodocs if someone wants to tinker around with it. Edit: Assembled it. Works fine -> so now I have a reset.exe in C: Edit2: No idea how to check the gamepad (not speaking of staying low cpu and system friendly) in asm or blitz (gameb() command?), so sorry for the moment. Last edited by Nightshft; 12 November 2019 at 04:18.

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10 November 2019, 18:11	#2
kamelito Zone Friend Join Date: May 2006 Location: France Posts: 1,870	I don’t think it is possible, if the game is system friendly a program could be use used I guess but you’ll have to load it first and I don’t think many games are system friendly. Maybe with an added hardware...

11 November 2019, 21:23	#4
gurth Registered User Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Halifax Posts: 226	you would still need to get up to change the CD

11 November 2019, 21:58	#6
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,391	CD32load does that. So if you're using a CD32load compilation you're able to reset just by pressing (AFAIR) rev+fwd+all color buttons. You don't have to change the CD either: it's a compilation. Whdload also has a joypad quit option. Now most updated slaves also can be quit to WB using a joypad combination. What you're talking about would be possible, though. With games not zeroing the VBR, the program could install & just scan the joypad, then redirect VBR to 0 like whdload/jst do. But that's a lot of work for a minor feature.

14 November 2019, 13:13	#9
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,391	enable that only if slave itself doesn't have joypad support. If it has joypad support, either it has quit support or it hasn't, in which case don't hesitate to request it since it's a trivial change (if the source of the slave is accessible )

13 December 2019, 23:03	#11
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,391	only answer: mantis.whdload.de Working on restoring James Pond 3 joypad controls BTW

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