A500 Mini WhdLoad issues

[wlcina]

Hello, I do not know where to put this thread, if needed move it to anywhere else.

Got the A500 Mini and I am pretty happy with it, lot of WHDLoad games works without issues. But mostly these I want to play - not, meaning Battle Isle and History line.
Filenames:
BattleIsle&Datadisks_v1.9_1991&0460&0667.lha
Historyline_v1.5_1569.lha

Battle isle ends with a message in CLI "The data/disk files are damaged or it is an unsupported version" (checked the lha archive, and to be sure downloaded new one on a new card) and History Line with "Custom1 needs to be set"




There is new whdload pack released (which allows you to run whdload games). https://retrogames.biz/support/thea500-mini/whdload/ However did not helped with my games.

To whose are interested in:
The speed of A500 Mini is at about 68030 (see picture bellow).

[jotd]

those are 2 very different issues:

- unsupported version: the data files are unsupported or corrupt...
- CUSTOM1 must be set that's strange. This should be an optional switch to enable - for instance - trainers or skip intro or whatever. And the doc http://whdload.de/games/HistoryLine.html doesn't mention any custom1 switch...

[LieutLaww]

There was an update released, try dl that and copying it over and see if that helps it has an updated database

[ransom1122]

If you click info of the history line icon in amiga worken h it does mention the custom1 number

I added it in the xml database for history line entry

<custom>
Custom1=2 (I can't remember what the exact custom toggle.was)
<custom> by game still fails.to load on mini with the must set custom error

[wlcina]

Originally Posted by LieutLaww

There was an update released, try dl that and copying it over and see if that helps it has an updated database

Did not help :/

[gizmomelb]

I've tried the 'BattleIsle&DataDisks_v1.10_0460&0667&1991.lha' (from the ftp site, in the Retro Replay folder) and same error message:

"The data/disk files are damaged or it is an unsupported version"

could it be that the data files are unwritable in the .lha archive?:

Batte Isle - data/kocw.dat
Desert Scenario - data/d01/kocw.dat
Moon of Chromos - data/d02/kocw.dat

[ransom1122]

Someone try

DATA=data

Or

This in uae custom section of the games uae.

Whdload_custom1=2

[Retroplay]

Does the mini ignore tool types set in icons ?
Battle Isle requires CUSTOM1 set to run for each scenario.

Battle Isle:
Load intro: CUSTOM1=1
Battle Isle: CUSTOM1=3
AirLandSea: CUSTOM1=4
MoonOfChromos: CUSTOM1=5
If one of these CUSTOM tooltypes are not set, WHDLoad will throw damaged file error.

Same for History Line:
Start intro: CUSTOM1=1
Start game: CUSTOM1=2

[wlcina]

Originally Posted by Retroplay

Does the mini ignore tool types set in icons ?
Battle Isle requires CUSTOM1 set to run for each scenario.

Battle Isle:
Load intro: CUSTOM1=1
Battle Isle: CUSTOM1=3
AirLandSea: CUSTOM1=4
MoonOfChromos: CUSTOM1=5
If one of these CUSTOM tooltypes are not set, WHDLoad will throw damaged file error.

Same for History Line:
Start intro: CUSTOM1=1
Start game: CUSTOM1=2

What do you do is to put the file (lha unpacked) in the specified folder in mini (THEA500-Games) and you select the LHA archive in A500 mini menu to execute it.
Then the whdload screen appears trying to load a game (there is one option though, not nearby my A500 Mini now) - I mean in the WHDload splashscreen, then it goes black and end to amiga CLI with error I mentioned.
I checked the info files before, there is already set CUSTOM1 for each part - exactly as you described.
I dont know the proces how the whdload launch particular game of this set, but there is no option to select particular game or datadisk anywhere.
I need to compare the launch within winuae or what.

[Nobby_UK]

This is what I get within WinUAE:

[wlcina]

Originally Posted by Nobby_UK

This is what I get within WinUAE:

Upon launch it shows the second screen (load game position) and then after while error appears. The first screen is not shown at all.
I tried to select different save position, but still ends with the same error.

[mrv2k]

I think that the problem is that they write protect the WHDLoad drive so that any games that write to the data folder have errors and often crash.

[Wepl]

Originally Posted by mrv2k

I think that the problem is that they write protect the WHDLoad drive so that any games that write to the data folder have errors and often crash.

This is nonsense because the SavePath feature is used.

[Wepl]

Originally Posted by Retroplay

Does the mini ignore tool types set in icons ?
Battle Isle requires CUSTOM1 set to run for each scenario.

Battle Isle:
Load intro: CUSTOM1=1
Battle Isle: CUSTOM1=3
AirLandSea: CUSTOM1=4
MoonOfChromos: CUSTOM1=5
If one of these CUSTOM tooltypes are not set, WHDLoad will throw damaged file error.

Same for History Line:
Start intro: CUSTOM1=1
Start game: CUSTOM1=2

AFAIK it doesn‘t start them via the icon, which is the problem here. It seems to scan for a slave file and starts it directly not honoring an options set in a icon.

[rsn8887]

Originally Posted by Wepl

AFAIK it doesn‘t start them via the icon, which is the problem here. It seems to scan for a slave file and starts it directly not honoring an options set in a icon.

The reliance on icon tooltypes for setting options is one of the worst things with WHDLoad in my opinion. The options are only saved within the icon .info file, nowhere else. It messes up many WHDLoad games.

The way to fix the problem is very simple in principle. You have to use a little tool called kgiconload to start the icon, instead of starting the slave directly.

Here is kgiconload http://eab.abime.net/showpost.php?p=584390&postcount=72

The tool WBrun from Workbench does NOT work for this, only kgiconload works.

Of course, you could also actually double click the icon in Workbench to make it work, but who wants to do that nowadays, and how to click the icon on TheA500 Mini I wouldn't even now, because it is all automated with scripts.

Maybe the A500 makers can issue an update to fix this problem? All they have to do is include kgiconload and call it in their script.

There seems to be another issue with TheA500 mini: It seems Barbarian 2 Palace and other games run in turbo speed. There seems to be no setting to fix it. This is an issue that keeps popping up over and over with WHDLoad on emulators. Most people say to limit your CPU speed, but I thought the idea of WHDLoad was to make the games run correctly even on fast CPUs, so I feel like it shouldn't be necessary to limit the CPU speed. Anyways, it seems to not be possible to limit the CPU speed on TheA500 mini.

EDIT: How is saving done on TheA500 mini WHDLoad? I think on my other installs on MiSTer etc. WHDLoad only saves when I actually press the QuitKey to quit the game. During the game it only saves in memory, not on disk. I hope they found a way to have WHDLoad save immediately. See here: https://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=98375

[jotd]

about games going too fast: each game in that case should be fixed with speed regulation.

I have processed a few of those. But a lot of games have such issues.

More common case is: game is running at 25fps and doesn't expect that the loop executes in less than 1/50s so the game runs at 50fps at times, doubling the speed. 50 Hz games don't have this issue.

[Superman]

I have a similar issue trying to run TANX generic install. It shows this message then returns to the menu. I cant tick a custom box as there is no splashscreen when it loads. I also get a black screen when trying to run Turbosprint by McGeezer also.

[ransom1122]

Originally Posted by Superman

I have a similar issue trying to run TANX generic install. It shows this message then returns to the menu. I cant tick a custom box as there is no splashscreen when it loads. I also get a black screen when trying to run Turbosprint by McGeezer also.

With Tanx...

Edit the database change the default slave to

Workbench31_4.slave

[Superman]

Originally Posted by ransom1122

With Tanx...

Edit the database change the default slave to

Workbench31_4.slave

Cheers now working

[dallascowboys]

I'd love to get Historyline and Battle Isle working on the Mini too.

I even tried the german language version of Historyline to see if that would work (have encountered other instances where english versions fail but the german works) but no dice in this instance