Critical Mass by Parallax, what machine will it run on?

[Leffmann]

I'd like to see this demo: http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=57110

I've tried a bunch of configurations in WinUAE, but the demo always comes to halt a few minutes in. Before I try a billion other configurations, does anyone know a configuration that works for sure?

Thanks.

[Toni Wilen]

I don't know because it also hangs on my real A500, not as quickly as in emulation but always before it has reached end part.

It uses same cia timer for disk timing and I think for music player and sometimes both use same timer at the same time..

[amilo3438]

It was already answered in amiga problematic demos thread (check always the 1st page):

answer 1 -> http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=111
answer 2 -> http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=...&postcount=112

[Leffmann]

I did a search here in support.Demos before posting, but I completely forgot about that thread. From the explanation, I guess there's no reliable way of getting it to run in WinUAE.

Thanks both of you.

[amilo3438]

Hold on ...

I was wondering, how they made then on BitWorld those pictures!

(on BitWorld is not mentioned OCS/ECS or AGA, so that must probably confused me while was testing problematic OCS/ECS demos)


So, it seems to work now on Quickstart A1200 (basic) WinUAE setting ! (tested on latest 2.8.0)

Note: Insert the 1st disk after WB screen is shown, otherwise maybe it wont boot!

(Also it wont boot if cycle-exact mode is OFF!)


So it works, but anyway got a black screen on disk 2 after reaching track 61 ?! (perhaps an QS A1200 CE issue!)

Hmm, now I am a little confused ... so, this must be then an AGA demo and not OCS/ECS demo ?! (it needs to be tested on an real basic A1200)

[Toni Wilen]

Of course it isn't AGA (A1200 didn't exist when demo was released, few months too early)

Anyway, because hanging bad wait code is used for disk stepping delays (and probably other disk delays), hang or not hang situation depends on lots of variables, including external variables like rotation rate of floppy and relative position of sectors between tracks.

Any kind of configuration may or may not hang. It is completely accidental if it works. Running it on my real A500 hangs slightly later than currently in emulation but it probably hangs differently if different disk drive is used, for example.

Code that hangs is simple:

start CIAB timer B
loop:
btst #1,$bfdd00
beq.s loop

Module player uses also CIAB timer A and interrupts. Module player can interrupt above waiting loop which isn't a problem because CIA interrupts have small delay which allows btst to always notice set bit before interrupt starts. (also CIA chips seem to have undocumented feature, interrupt line seem to never activate during CIA access = CS line is active)

There are also situations where vblank interrupt interrupts above wait loop, still not a problem. Vblank does not touch CIA registers.

It hangs when vblank interrupt that interrupted above wait loop gets interrupted by module player CIAB timer A interrupt. Module player interrupt clears CIAICR = waiting loop never sees bit 1 set anymore. Infinite loop.

Above wait loop should have tested CIA B timer B status bit, not interrupt status which clears when read.

[Nobby_UK]

All I get is a tumbling floppy disk and No Sound
(emulated A500+ with 1 meg chip & 1 meg fast)

I tried converting the DMS's to ADF (on ADF Opus)
and disk 2 produced an error (and an 869 KB ADF)

[alexh]

Above wait loop should have tested CIA B timer B status bit, not interrupt status which clears when read.

Presumably the disk could be patched offline or memory could be patched at runtime using WinUAE to change this?

[Toni Wilen]

Originally Posted by alexh

Presumably the disk could be patched offline or memory could be patched at runtime using WinUAE to change this?

Of course but it is not my problem

[Toni Wilen]

I adjusted disk rotation speed by -0.05% and demo does not hang anymore..

Unless something goes wrong, this demo works in next winuae beta. (but at least my tested version now crashes after "floating vector cube" -part)

EDIT: Actually there is another better fix, reducing time that dskready bit takes to activate also seems to fix the demo..

[Toni Wilen]

Crash before last part is demo bug (again), it does not disable copper DMA after last part ends, new part loads over old copper list which causes all kinds of bogus copper moves (including write to DSKLEN when loading new track -> crash).

But if chipset is OCS, some previous bogus moves trigger OCS-only "copper dangerous register" condition (OCS copper has smaller writable register range than ECS copper), stopping the copper before DSKLEN write, preventing the crash.

Unfortunately bad landscape data only works (accidentally) with 1M chip RAM. With OCS it hangs.

-> change chipset to OCS before last part to see the final image.

Crash before final image is A500 confirmed (Now it run without hanging, I guess due to different floppy drive), impossible to confirm if it works with OCS chipset without non-broken (which is still MIA) first disk.

This mystery is finally solved! (except non-broken first disk).

[Leffmann]

Ok, I will check the demo again once WinUAE 2.8.1 is released. Thanks again.

[amilo3438]

Originally Posted by Toni Wilen

Unfortunately bad landscape data only works (accidentally) with 1M chip RAM. With OCS it hangs.

-> change chipset to OCS before last part to see the final image.

Crash before final image is A500 confirmed (Now it run without hanging, I guess due to different floppy drive), impossible to confirm if it works with OCS chipset without non-broken (which is still MIA) first disk.

This mystery is finally solved! (except non-broken first disk).

Tested to work fine in current WinUAE 4900 Beta 29 [32-bit version] with unusual quickstart config: A500 1.3 ROM, OCS Agnus, 1MB Chip RAM! (Note: OCS Agnus instead of ECS)
(Edit: Also confirmed to work on the latest official WinUAE 4400 [32-bit version] with the same config.)

[Nobby_UK]

Just gets to the spinning disk for me --- no music

[amilo3438]

Originally Posted by Nobby_UK

Just gets to the spinning disk for me --- no music

Change the disk-1 to disk-2 and press left mouse button.

[freakofnature]

Nobby, the spinning disk means : Please insert disk 2!
Do you have disk 2 in df0: ? Then click mouse.
Second disk drive is not supported.

edit:
tooooo slow

[Nobby_UK]

Ah !
I did hear a buzz of disk activity whenever I presses either button.