Atari ST Emulation FAQ
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A T A R I S T E M U L A T I O N F A Q
Frequently Asked Questions list about Atari ST emulation on the PC
(currently GEMulator96, GEMulator Classic, PacifiST,
STemu, STimul, and STonX)
==========================================================================
Version 1.6 - 28 June 1997
Created and maintained by
Richard Karsmakers - cronos@worldaccess.nl
Robert Goodwin - rsg0910@iglou.com
DISCLAIMER
Although every possible care has been taken to assure optimum accuracy of
the information in this FAQ, etc. :-)
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Table of Contents
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1 Initial Proceedings
1.0 Welcome!
1.1 What the FAQ?!
1.2 How and where to get updated FAQ versions
1.3 How to help improving the FAQ
1.4 Emulation URLs not mentioned elsewhere in this FAQ
1.5 Author info
1.5a Richard Karsmakers
1.5b Robert Goodwin
1.6 Atari ST Emulation FAQ history
1.7 Thanks
2 GEMulator96 and GEMulator96
2.0 GEMulator
2.1 Where do I find the software?
2.2.0 How do I install it?
2.2.1 Installing the GEMulator Classic
2.2.2 Installing the GEMulator96
2.2.3 Creating the GEMUL8R.INI file
2.4.0 No Way - What won't run on the GEMulator?
2.4.1 Drawing & Art
2.4.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
2.4.3 MIDI and Sound
2.4.4 Programming Utilities
2.4.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
2.4.6 Communications
2.4.7 Disk Magazines
2.4.8 Various (including most Utilities)
2.5.0 YES Way - This will run on the GEMulator!
2.5.1 Drawing & Art
2.5.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
2.5.3 MIDI and Sound
2.5.4 Programming Utilities
2.5.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
2.5.6 Communications
2.5.7 Disk Magazines
2.5.8 Various (including most Utilities)
2.5.9 Games
2.6.0 GEMulator Problems...and how to solve them
2.6.1 Software Compatibility
2.6.2 Programming under GEMulator
2.6.3 Miscellaneous
3 PacifiST
3.0 PacifiST
3.1 Where do I find the software?
3.2.0 Installing PacifiST
3.2.1 The PACIFIST.INI file
3.4.0 No Way - What won't run on PacifiST?
3.4.1 Drawing & Art
3.4.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
3.4.3 MIDI and Sound
3.4.4 Programming Utilities
3.4.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
3.4.6 Communications
3.4.7 Disk Magazines
3.4.8 Various (including most Utilities)
3.5.0 YES Way - This will run on PacifiST!
3.5.1 Drawing & Art
3.5.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
3.5.3 MIDI and Sound
3.5.4 Programming Utilities
3.5.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
3.5.6 Communications
3.5.7 Disk Magazines
3.5.8 Various (including most Utilities)
3.5.9 Games
3.6.0 PacifiST Problems...and how to solve them
3.6.1 Software Compatibility
3.6.2 Programming under PacifiST
3.6.3 Miscellaneous
4 STonX
4.0 STonX
4.1 Where do I find the software?
4.2 Installing STonX
4.4.0 No Way - What won't run on STonX?
4.4.1 Drawing & Art
4.4.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
4.4.3 MIDI and Sound
4.4.4 Programming Utilities
4.4.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
4.4.6 Communications
4.4.7 Disk Magazines
4.4.8 Various (including most Utilities)
4.5.0 YES Way - This will run on STonX!
4.5.1 Drawing & Art
4.5.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
4.5.3 MIDI and Sound
4.5.4 Programming Utilities
4.5.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
4.5.6 Communications
4.5.7 Disk Magazines
4.5.8 Various (including most Utilities)
4.5.9 Games
4.6.0 STonX Problems...and how to solve them
4.6.1 Software Compatibility
4.6.2 Programming under STonX
4.6.3 Miscellaneous
5 STemu
5.0 STemu
5.1 Where do I find the software?
5.2 Installing STemu
5.4.0 No Way - What won't run on STemu
5.4.1 Drawing & Art
5.4.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
5.4.3 MIDI and Sound
5.4.4 Programming Utilities
5.4.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
5.4.6 Communications
5.4.7 Disk Magazines
5.4.8 Various (including most Utilities)
5.5.0 YES Way - This will run on STemu
5.5.1 Drawing & Art
5.5.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
5.5.3 MIDI and Sound
5.5.4 Programming Utilities
5.5.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
5.5.6 Communications
5.5.7 Disk Magazines
5.5.8 Various (including most Utilities)
5.5.9 Games
5.6.0 STemu Problems...and how to solve them
5.6.1 Software Compatibility
5.6.2 Programming under STemu
5.6.3 Miscellaneous
6 STimul
6.0 STimul
6.1 Where do I find the software?
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I: INITIAL PROCEEDINGS
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1.0 WELCOME!
Atari ST emulation has been around for a while, yet all this time nobody
ever got their noses down to the grindstone in order to create a means for
users of emulator the likes of GEMulator, PacifiST, STonX, STonX and
STimul to exchange hints and tips, in other words to conceive a basic
document that contains information that ST emulation fans would no doubt
value like life itself. Well, this is it. It started off as a GEMulator-
only FAQ, but it almost logically evolved into a more broad-minded
platform.
In case you are not familiar with the concept of FAQs, please read the
next paragraph.
1.1 What the FAQ?! ("What is a FAQ?" for the more sensitive)
FAQ simply stands for "Frequently Asked Question", but it has come to
indicate a text file full of information about a certain subject. And
somewhere in the infinite nooks and crannies of the vastly obscure
Internet you can find FAQs for just about anything at all: Sitcoms, rock
groups, bomb-building, hallucinogenic substances, Amigas, Serbo-Croatian
bonsai tree aficionados, you name it!
1.2 How and where to get updated FAQ versions
The idea for this FAQ came into existence somewhere around the end of
1996, at which instant its creators both started to collect the various
messages pertaining to Atari ST emulation that made their way onto the
various Atari Usenet groups, most particularly onto the group they quite
regularly frequent, comp.sys.atari.st.
There will also be more or less frequent updates of this document, of
course, which will be posted to comp.sys.atari.st and comp.emulators.misc.
Of course the FAQ will also be put up on the Web. It can be found at the
following locations:
http://members.iglou.com/rsg0910/atstemu.faq.html
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/fujizone/files/stemufaq.zip
If you want to receive the current version of the FAQ in your email box
every time a new one is released, just email to cronos@worldaccess.com
with the subject line "Subscribe Atari ST Emulation FAQ".
1.3 How to help improving the FAQ
First of all, please distribute this FAQ to FTP sites, WWW sites,
bulletin boards and whichever other places you deem fit. The word must get
around so that this FAQ will quickly improve drastically. Right now it
contains rather more questions than it does replies, which is a thing that
must change.
Second, if you notice anything - anything AT ALL - that is either
incorrect or incomplete, please feel free to fill in the gaps (possibly
with source reference). Even typo reports are welcome. Most of all,
however, we would appreciate your sending in solutions to the problems
posed in this document, or submitting procedures that people would need to
undertake to render compatible a program so far included in the 'no way'
list. Also, we would simply like to know of programs you are using
successfully that aren't yet mentioned in the lists of those that work, or
ones you've tried but that don't.
You will notice that the STemu and, even more so, the STimul segments in
particular are fairly skeletal. Please help us enlarge them.
Cheers!
1.4 Emulation URLs not mentioned elsewhere
Further down in this FAQ, information is given as to where to get all
kinds of software specific to the respective emulators. This paragraph
lists URLs and the like regarding either emulators that are not (yet) in
this FAQ or general stuff that can be used for any emulator.
Do note that the mere fact that some of the below URLs might possibly
give way to the illegal distribution of copyrighted software does not mean
that the authors of this FAQ condone such an act.
For MagicPC: (German)
http://cip2.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de:8080/hyplan/lafreund/
magicpc.html
ftp://members.aol.com/ashftp/demomapc.exe (English)
For TOS2Win:
http://www.aixit.com/tos2win/info.htm
For other emulations go to Matthias Jaap homepage:
http://www.hh.schule.de/hhs/computer/english/emulator.htm
For a Teradesk Desktop Replacement:
ftp://ftp.cnam.fr/pub/Atari/Desktops/tdsk140a.lzh
For software:
ftp.cnam.fr
ftp.archive.umich.edu (a very busy site!)
gopher.archive.umich.edu (preferred)
For the TOS ROMs:
http://nana.nfinity.com/node99 or 206.101.78.248/node99 (slow!)
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/2425/Tos_roms.zip
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/7550
Comp.emulators.misc FAQ (maintained by Adam Roach):
http://www.why.net/home/adam/cem/toc.html
1.5 Author information
1.5a Richard Karsmakers
A teacher of English since January 1997, some of you may recognise
Richard from some things he's done on the Atari platform, which include
the "Ultimate Virus Killer" and the disk magazine "ST News". Although he
has in the mean time rounded off the latter, he has vowed to continue
developing the former. This, together with his disinclination to convert
hundreds of "Superbase" and "1st Word Plus" files to "Access" and "Word"
respectively, is the main reason why he is now the owner of a PC set-up
with Atari emulation.
He still writes for "Atari Computing" and the Maggie" disk magazine
occasionally, and plans to set up a World Wide Web Multi Media Magazine
called "WWW-MMM". Having a penchant for loud music, he also maintains the
FAQ for the rock group Gwar.
1.5b Robert Goodwin
A deaf computer user since about 1978, Robert has used a number of the
older platforms when they were released, and has nothing but respect for
them. Though he has built his own 486 system, he still uses his STE and
Mega STE, as well as a Sun 3/60 workstation. He's currently attempting to
learn more C to write some sort of BBS program or somesuch. Give it time!
He's not about to give up his ST systems, though he'll test things out on
a variety of ST emulators just to see if they'll run, and then abuse them
from there.
1.6 Atari ST Emulation FAQ history
1.0 - 1 March 1997
- Initial compilation rounded off, GEMulator-only
1.5 - 11 May 1997
- Second, improved version
- STonX, PacifiST, STemu, and STimul added
- Reformatted to 75 columns for more universal readability
- Chapter division restructured, hopefully made more logical :-)
1.6 - 28 June 1997
- Compatibility and incompatibility lists added to
- STonX download URL altered
- PacifiST and STemu status information updated
1.7 Thanks
Lots of thanks to the people on Usenet who have reacted positively to the
idea of creating this FAQ - this one's for you! Quite a few people have
reacted by submitting questions, sometimes even questions accompanied by
an answer. Although we'll no doubt have forgotten a few people here,
heartfelt 'cheers!' need to go out to Ben-John, Nicholas Bales, John
Blackwell, Adrian Bridgett, Damien Burke, Will Fisher, Andrew Foster, Tony
Greenwood, Anthony Jacques, William Jones, Matthieu Klein, Ken MacDonald,
Miguel Reizinho, Helen Ross, Oliver Schildmann, Harry Sideras, Mark
Slagell, Philip Taylor, Jeff Vincent and Manfred Vogelgesang.
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II: GEMULATOR CLASSIC AND GEMULATOR96
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2.0 GEMulator
GEMulator96 is a software Atari ST emulator for PCs, created by Darek
Mihocka of Emulators, Inc. It emulates most of the ST systems released by
Atari, the 520/1040ST, STfm, STf, STm, MegaST and MegaSTE.
Darek Mihocka, in case the name rings a bell, used to be the main man of
Branch Always Software and has made, among many utilities, the Atari
screen speeder "Quick ST".
GEMulator Classic (current version 3.6) can only emulate the Atari ST.
This product is freeware (yes, it's for free!) and works on MS-DOS,
Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and OS/2 Warp, requiring at least an 80386
processor running at 33 Mhz, with 2-4 Mb of internal RAM.
GEMulator96 (currently version 4.6 of January 1997) costs US$ 69.95
separate, US$ 99.95 with MagiC 2, US$ 119.95 with MagiC 4, US$ 149.95 with
TOS 1.04 ROMs on an ISA card, and US$ 179.95 with TOS 2.06 ROMs on an ISA
card. Users of MagicPC (a competing product) can upgrade to GEMulator96
for US$ 39.95. It runs on Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT, and
requires at least an 80486 processor at 33 Mhz, with 6-8 Mb of internal
RAM and a VGA monitor. It works on systems equipped with 386/486/Pentium
or Pentium Pro.
Emulators, Inc. also offer to send you the latest GEMulator with MagiC 4
if you send them your old ST or (Mega) STE with disk drive and at least
one (monochrome or colour) monitor. They'll even pay the shipping of
GEMulator to you, the kind souls :-\
GEMulator97 is in the pipeline for the summer of 1997; this one should
also support Atari TT emulation, Falcon, ST, STE and Atari 8 bit (yes, all
in one package).
2.1 Where do I find the software?
Emulators Inc. can be reached via email at emulators@msn.com, which is
also the address where additional questions about GEMulator may be asked.
The regular (snailmail) address is:
Emulators, Inc.
14150 NE 20th Street, Suite 302
Bellevue, WA 98007
U.S.A.
Phone 206-236-0540
Fax 206-236-0257
For GEMulator Classic and GEMulator96:
http://www.emulators.com (click on Downloads)
For the virtual drives:
http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-11410/js/gem96dem.zip
(Just take the drives out of the zip file and stick them in your
GEMulator directory)
2.2.0 How do I install it?
Darek Mihocka, of Emulators, Inc., has said before that a manual is in
the making for the GEMulator Classic, but one has not surfaced yet. There
is one on setting up the GEMulator96 (to be found on the Emulators, Inc.
home page).
2.2.1 Installing the GEMulator Classic
Create a directory anywhere on your hard drive. GEM is a good one, though
you may want a different one. Place GEMUL8R.EXE, and MAGIC_PC.OS in your
directory, as well as the .VHD and STHDBOOT.SEC files.
Create the GEMUL8R.INI file. You can use the one below. See 2.2.3 for a
breakdown of what each line does.
rams 8
mono
quick
com1
disk c: cdrive.vhd
disk d: ddrive.vhd
disk e: edrive.vhd
disk f: fdrive.vhd
magic_pc.os
You may have seen somewhere that the .INI file has to go in the root.
This is an error. The emulator is looking for it in the same directory
it's in. If you want it in the root directory, then make it 'magic
c:\magic_pc.os,' and it'll find it there. The nice thing about this sort
of set-up is that you can have multiple operating systems and desktops.
Run the GEMUL8R.EXE program. You should now be able to see the boot-up
screen with the Atari logo, at which moment it'll start a memory check.
This check can be bypassed by tapping any key on the keyboard. If all goes
well, you will be at the desktop with 4 virtual drives C-F, and two
floppy drives A and B.
You may also see that you cannot install the ROMs via the program, using
the INSTALL command. This is for the plug-in card that Emulators Inc.
sells. See their home page for more information. GEMulator will run
without the ROM images if you have this card.
2.2.2 Installing GEMulator96
The Emulators Inc. Web page has instructions on doing this. However,
there may be some minor errors or whatnot, so watch this space.
2.2.3 Creating the GEMUL8R.INI file
This paragraph features a breakdown of what the individual lines in the
GEMUL8R.INI file do.
rams 8
How much memory do you wish for your ST to have? Make sure you have enough
RAM as well. A 4 Mb PC should use rams 4. Possibly, the amount of RAM you
specify should be lower than what the PC actually has.
mono
What kind of monitor? For now, the GEMulator Classic only uses either low
or high resolution.
quick
How fast do you want the emulation to be? Quick or Slow? ST speed or PC
speed?
com1
What port is your modem on?
disk c: cdrive.vhd
disk d: ddrive.vhd
disk e: edrive.vhd
disk f: fdrive.vhd
The virtual hard drives. If you don't have them, the emulator will give
you an error saying it can't find them, and all you'll have is access to
the A: and B: drives. See above where to find them.
magic_pc.os
This is your TOS ROM image. For now, most people are using 2.06. If your
image is called TOS.IMG, rename this line to magic tos.img. It will run.
Without this line or the .INI file, it will default to searching for the
MAGIC_PC.OS file. Do note that no version of TOS 1.00 will work with
GEMulator.
g
Will allow you to go straight into the ST screen. This appears not to be
needed when you use Windows 95. With some systems, you see, you'll just
get a white screen and nothing will happen is you omit this 'g'.
2.4.0 No Way - What won't run on the GEMulator?
This segment features a list - as complete as we could make it - of
various programs that do *not* work on the GEMulator. Individual games
(just like Falcons-specific applications such as "Rainbow") are not
mentioned, as they generally do not work. Exceptions may be found below,
in 2.5.x.
2.4.1 Drawing & Art
Deluxe Paint (the mouse can't be moved)
Kandinsky
NeoChrome
Spectrum 512
2.4.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
No titles known yet.
2.4.3 MIDI and Sound
No titles known yet.
2.4.4 Programming Utilities
No titles known yet.
2.4.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
No titles known yet.
2.4.6 Communications
No titles known yet.
2.4.7 Disk Magazines
Maggie (probably caused by the music).
2.4.8 Various (including most Utilities)
Autoroute
Diamond Edge
FastCopy pro (appears to work fine if a bit slow, but the target disk has
0 bytes free and no folders)
Freedom (see chapter 5)
Kobold File Copier
LEDPanel (doesn't display anything)
Microtalk QWK Reader
ST Zip (it cant deflate anything; this is not much of a problem, though,
as "Winzip.exe" can be assigned to be used, even from GEMulator, and this
is much faster anyway)
Xboot (though it can be used to manually rename CPX, AUTO\.PRG and ACC
files, it cannot handle its function key sets)
2.5.0 YES Way - This will run on the GEMulator!
This segment features a list - as complete as we could make it - of
various programs that *do* work on the GEMulator. Where needed, hints are
given on how to make programs work that may initially seem reluctant to
function properly or efficiently.
2.5.1 Drawing & Art
Bitmap View 4
Canvas
Degas Elite
Graph 1.20 (produces graphics as GEM metafiles)
ImageCopy
Papyrus (though right mouse should be avoided, and printing allegedly
runs into problems with NVDI, so print to a disk file and use a batch file
on the Windows desktop with the contents "COPY /B %1 LPT1" to drag that
file onto).
2.5.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
1st Word Plus 3.20TT
Calamas 1.09n
Calamus SL
Everest
Pagestream
Papyrus (change printer output to "via TOS")
Protext
QED 3.97 (text editor)
Tempus (although it does give a "THIS APPLICATION CAN'T FIND THE FOLDER
YOU TRIED TO ACCESS" error whenever it's exited - anyone know why, and how
this can be solved?)
2.5.3 MIDI and Sound
No titles known yet.
2.5.4 Programming Utilities
DevPac ST (*the* standard assembler from HiSoft)
GfA Basic 3
GfA Basic 3 compiler (see 'problems', chapter 5, too)
Hisoft Basic 2
Hisoft Personal Pascal
Interface (resource file designer)
2.5.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
Data Manager ST
DB Master One
Superbase Professional
2.5.6 Communications
Flash
2.5.7 Disk Magazines
ST News Volume 7 Issue 2 and up (provided the music is configured 'off'
in the "SETUP" file)
2.5.8 Various (including most Utilities)
Atomic 3.5 (packer)
Before Dawn (screensaver)
Dither 1.6 (produces dither patterns for GEMview)
Formula (equation editor)
GEMBench (by Ofir Gal) (CPU check doesn't work though)
GEMView (though printed output doesn't work)
Geneva
Hiscore Terminal Utility 1.0
Kivi QWK Reader
Knife ST (though it can't access hard disk sectors outside file mode)
Let 'Em Fly (dialog box enhancer)
LZH Shell 3.10
MagiC
Mega Depack
Memfile (but make sure it's in the root of C:)
Mosdos
Mutil (Michtron Disk Utility) (though it can't access hard disk sectors
outside file mode)
NeoDesk 4
New Depack (Sinister Developments - use the ST version)
NVDI 2 & 4
Pack Ice 2.4 (packer)
P.A. Pack (packer)
Picswitch 7
Revenge Doc Displayer (but see chapter 5!)
Selectric (alternative file selector)
ST Guide
Sysinfo (by H.W.A.M. de Beer)
Ultimate Virus Killer
Whatis
Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged (Grandson of) 4.242 (swearing
accessory)
2.5.9 Games
Don't Worry be Happy
Geneticopoly (AI Monopoly by Roy Stead)
Premium Mah Jong (use standard resolutions, though)
2.6.0 GEMulator problems...and how to solve them
This is one of the most important segments of the FAQ for GEMulator users
- the part where practical problems are exposed and consequently -
hopefully - tackled. It's divided in what is hopefully a practical
structure.
2.6.1 Software compatibility
FREEDOM
Q: "Freedom" appears not to work properly. When you try to save a file
with it and the original file already exists, it will merely update the
date and time stamp of the original file, but not change its actual
contents.
A: Save under a different filename, then exit, delete the old file, and
rename the new. Strange, but that's the best workaround for now.
GENEVA
Q: When installing "Geneva" via its own installation program, one of its
vitally important files, GEM.CNF, is always 0 bytes in size. "Geneva"
always needs the specifications in this file when, for example, you want
to have "NeoDesk" used as default 'shell'.
A: Create a text file such as the one displayed below (edit it to your
own specifications):
# GEM.CNF: written by INSTALL.PRG
#
setenv ACCPATH=C:\
setenv PATH=.,C:\GENEVA
setenv ACCEXT=ACC,ACX
setenv GEMEXT=PRG,APP,GTP,EXE
setenv TOSEXT=TOS,TTP
setenv SHOWHELP=C:\GENEVA\HELP\GNVAHELP
# setenv TOSRUN=C:\GENEVA\GNVA_TOS.PRG
# Other commands:
# run Runs a program with parameters
# runsleep Runs program, puts it to sleep
shell C:\NEODESK4\NEODESK.EXE Runs program as the shell
#
# end of GEM.CNF
GFA BASIC (COMPILER)
Q: When you use "MENU.PRG" to compile a program, you specify "FILE.GFA"
but, for some or other reason, the actual compiling module attempts to
access the file "FILE.GFA.GFA"; it autonomously puts an additional (and
superfluous) extension behind the file, causing it not to be found.
A: This can be solved by having two identical copies of "FILE.GFA", with
the second called "FILE" (right, with no extension). Now manually drag
"FILE" onto "GFA_BCOM.PRG". The file "FILE.GFA" will be accessed and
compiled, resulting in a "FILE.O" file. Now start "MENU.PRG" and act as
usual (F2, F10 is what I usually so, then select "FILE.GFA"). The
compiling process will give an error (file not found), but that's no
problem and the linking process will access "FILE.O". One "but": You
cannot specify the compiler options from "MENU.PRG" anymore, so include
them in your source file.
REVENGE DOC DISPLAYER
Q: "Revenge Doc Displayer" refuses to be installed properly as "default"
application for applications not yet assigned to other files.
A: There seems to be no other solution than to edit the NEWDESK.INF file
and add lines similar to the following (include your own RDD3.PRG path):
#G 03 04 200 C:\ATARI\UTILITY\RDD\RDD3.PRG@ *.TXT@ @
#G 03 04 200 C:\ATARI\UTILITY\RDD\RDD3.PRG@ *.ASC@ @
#G 03 04 200 C:\ATARI\UTILITY\RDD\RDD3.PRG@ *.ME@ @
#G 03 04 200 C:\ATARI\UTILITY\RDD\RDD3.PRG@ *.1ST@ @
STOS
Q: Why don't some compiled STOS programs work? This could have something
to do with the TOS version (I'm using 2.06), because a similar problem
appeared in real life on the ST a few years ago, but even with the later
versions of STOS the mouse/keyboard don't respond...
A: It should be noted that, with the latest version of the STOS compiler,
everything should work fine, and the mouse will work too.
XBOOT
Q: "Xboot" cannot read and save its default 'sets', it cannot find its
own C:\XBOOT\" path.
A: The solution may be to start using Virtual disk files. Is there a
solution for regular (non-Virtual) disk mode?
2.6.2 Programming under GEMulator
END OF FILE RECOGNITION
Q: In "GfA Basic", the EOF(#x) command doesn't find the end of a file.
A: There is no true solution for this one. If the program that needs to
read (for example) a configuration file using EOF(#x) still has its source
code available, you could change the WHILE NOT EOF(#x)...WEND loop to a
DO...LOOP where you exit the loop if an empty line is read (with LINE
INPUT). So you have to make sure you add an empty line or two at the end
of, in this case, the configuration file.
A: A better workaround:
Function EOF(Channel%)
Return (LOC(#Channel%)>=LOF(#Channel%))
Endfunc
So instead of WHILE NOT EOF(#x) you can write WHILE NOT @EOF(x).
JOYSTICK EMULATION
Q: Can joysticks be emulated?
A: ?
WRITE-PROTECTED DISKS
Q: There is a perfect way to check the write-protect status of a floppy
disk on *any* Atari system (Falcon, TT, ST, whatever), achieved by the
following piece of code ("GfA Basic"):
FUNCTION wrpr(crd%) !crd% contains 0 - drive A or 1 - drive B
SDPOKE &H43E,-1 !Floppy operations off
~XBIOS(29,NOT (2*(crd%+1))) !Select drive
SDPOKE &HFF8606,&H80 !FDC-status register select
buf%=DPEEK(&HFF8604) !FDC-status register read
~XBIOS(30,2*(crd%+1)) !Deselect drive
SDPOKE &H43E,0
buf%=(buf% AND 64)/64 !Isolate WP-bit
RETURN buf%
ENDFUNC
Predictably, due to the direct access on addresses FFFF8604 and FFFF8606,
this doesn't work on the GEMulator. How can this be solved?
A: ?
2.6.3 Miscellaneous
Any GEMulator-related problems that didn't fit in either of the two
previous categories will be addressed in this paragraph.
AUTO FOLDER ON DRIVE A:
Q: How do you boot programs from an AUTO folder on drive A?
A: Set the 'Boot disk' option to drive A (RTFM!).
INSTALLING GEMULATOR96 WITHOUT TOS ROM CARD
Q: One beautiful day, my GEMulator96 TOS ROM card was suddenly no longer
recognised by the software. It said 'GEMulator not running'. Don't know
what caused it; I certainly did no fumbling around and added/removed no
hardware or anything. I took the ISA card out and inserted it again, but
no show. Took the ROM chips out and inserted them again. The TOS ROMs are
simply no longer recognised, the 'find TOS' option finds absolutely zilch.
A: I wouldn't know how to solve this. Maybe you should sell the ROM TOS
chips and simply throw away the TOS card, use the GEMulator with TOS on
disk.
Q: OK, all you guys talk about using GEMulator with TOS on disk.
Apparently you should have a file called 'magic_pc.os' in the root
directory of partition C. This does not work. Also, you guys mention
altering the INI file, but that isn't even a simple ASCII file with me!
A: Ah! That's the GEMulator *demo* that you found everybody talking
about. The real thing, the registered version of GEMulator96 you appear to
own, has no ASCII INI file and looks for the file 'magicpc.os' in the root
of C:. Yes, simply leave off the '_' between 'magic' and 'pc' and off you
go.
I/O PROBLEMS ON GEMULATOR CLASSIC
Q: I have several problems with I/O on GEMulator Classic:
- Serial port: there is no DTR signal. Cannot talk the to modem unless I
have first sent "at&d0" (ignore DTR, for USR Sportster 14.4 external) from
outside GEMulator before entering Atari mode. But even then it goes
unresponsive after connect.
- Parallel port: errant characters are sent to the printer for no reason I
can think of. Every now and then the laser printer spits out a page with a
single capital "E" in the upper left corner.
- Floppy: media change is seldom recognised. I have to reboot when
changing floppies.
A: Regarding the media change, you can tap ESC when changing floppies and
it should recognise the media change.
MS-DOS VS. ATARI-FORMAT DISKS
Q: I cannot read all Atari disks on the PC.
A: MS-DOS and Windows are very picky when it comes to being able to read
disks. Even though Atari systems use a disk format that is largely
compatible with PCs, MS-DOS and Windows require very specific values to be
present in a disk's bootsector. Together with GEMulator you should get a
program by the name of MOSDOS.PRG. This Atari program will transform
Atari-formatted disks into ones that MS-DOS and Windows can read. Do note
that this does not work with non-standard Atari format (such as 10 sectors
per track 'FAT' disks, hyper-formatted disks, etc.).
PRINTING
Q: When I print, the printer stops before the printer buffer is fully
flushed. I have to start another print job to finish my first job. I'm
using GEMulator 4.15 on a P133 running Win95. I've tried default, Fast
BIOS Printing, and FPPRINT (or whatever it's called) with the same
results. I'm trying to print to a Canon BJ-200. I had no such problems
using GEMulator 3.x on my old 486 DX2/66.
A: Is it possible that you may need to send the EOF character, that is, a
CTRL-Z, for it to actually start printing?
SOUND
Q: On GEMulator Classic, with sound emulation on, the first key press
starts a continuous high-pitched tone, not too loud, from both channels
(Soundblaster clone, Forte 16). On GEMulator96, there is a constantly
repeated sound, as if the volume is turned on and off a few times per
second. XBIOS 32 sound is garbled (Soundblaster clone OptiMAD). Setting
the blaster environmental variable doesn't help.
A: ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
III: PACIFIST
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.0 PacifiST
PacifiST is a software Atari ST emulator for PCs, created by Fréderic
Gidouin. It works best under DOS, but also runs smoothly from Windows 3.11
or Windows 95. Minimum configuration is a 100 Mhz 486, and a Soundblaster-
compatible soundcard if you want to hear something. PacifiST emulates the
basic ST system released by Atari. PacifiST, amazingly, is FREEWARE,
meaning it's for free, although Fréderic would like to occasional (and
much deserved!) donation as most of his time goes into the programming and
developing of this package. The biggest advantages of PacifiST are that it
can run quite a few ST demos and games. Also, it can use both big image
files *and* regular PC mass storage media simultaneously, where GEMulator
can only have one or the other.
The current version is 0.44 (May 29 1997). Fréderic claims the next
version will be an important leap pertaining compatibility and capability.
3.1 Where do I find the software?
The programmer, Fréderic Gidouin, can be reached at email address
frederic.gidouin@hol.fr, or via the snailmail address below.
Frederic Gidouin
9, Allee du Chevrefeuille
F-29280 Plouzane
FRANCE
Official PacifiST home pages:
http://wwwperso.hol.fr/~gidouin/pacifist.html
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/6875/pacifist.html
Other PacifiST resources:
http://ireland.iol.ie/~ajankows/st/pacifist.html
http://oasis.slcc.edu/~pitchja
http://www.jetman.demon.co.uk/st/index.html
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bfozard/pacifist.htm
A variety of PacifiST utilities can be found around the Web, too.
AssiST:
http://www.iol.ie/~ajankows/st/pacifist.html
PaCiLOAD:
http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~contact/paciload.zip
MSAtoST:
http://www.jetman.demon.co.uk/st/index.html
IMGBUILD:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Lakes/6878/download.html or
http://wwwperso.hol.fr/~gidouin/download.html
3.2.0 Installing PacifiST
Place everything in its own directory, and modify the entries as
described below in the PACIFIST.INI file, then run the PACIFIST.EXE file.
3.2.1 The PACIFIST.INI file
This file sometimes changes as Frederic puts more changes in Pacifist and
makes it run better. This will attempt to keep up in some way with the
latest revisions as possible. Read the PACIFIST.DOC for more info.
; PaCifiST v0.xx INI file
; New directives are commented
[video]
refreshrate = 1
(Every how many frames do you want the screen to be refreshed? 1 is
normal, unless your system gets jerky screens, then increase the number.)
monochrome = no
(Do you want a monochrome screen? Yes for color, no for mono.)
fastvideo=yes
(Do you have a slow video card?)
[system]
pcdrive = no ;REALLY NOT RECOMMENDED. sorry to insist...
(Read the comment. It's not done yet.)
sensitivity = 4 ;Mouse sensitivity (not with build-driver).
internalmouse = no
mousecom=1
(At what COM port is your mouse located?)
joystick=yes
(Are you using a joystick?)
serial=no
autorun=no
(Do you want to go directly from the display monitor to the program?)
ramsize=2
(How much memory do you wish to have? The DOC file contains info on how to
do this. An 8 meg machine can easily handle a RAM size of 6, while those
machines at 16 megs can do 12-14 megs.)
Sound=yes
(Sound or no sound, that is the question.)
volume=255
(How loud do you want it? 0-255 is the limit, though your soundcard setups
can be changed. If it's coming out of a stereo or speakers, use that)
samples=yes
(Play ST sound samples?)
image=c:\pacifist\disk.st
(This is your disk image, your drive A:. Unless pcdrive=yes above, which
it shouldn't be due to some bugs, it'll actually read the floppy. You can
have a second line like this - with a different path specification, of
course - for drive B)
mount=c:\pacifist\stfiles
(Your own hard drive image, actually a directory. Change it to where your
directory is located. You can place files in there if you wish merely by
copying them there. This is *not* a virtual disk, like 'image' above)
tos = d:\motorola\tos\tos100.rom ;Of course, you must edit this
line
tosbase= 0xfc0000 ;to indicate YOUR Tos file location.
;tos = d:\motorola\tos\tos162.rom
;tosbase= 0xe00000
tos = d:\motorola\tos\tos206.rom
tosbase= 0xe00000
(These above don't need much explanation. They're the TOS ROMs. Keep the
tosbase address the same, do not change at all. You can change the path
name to the ROM images.)
[debug]
logfile=c:\pacifist\st.log
trapirq = none
logirq = none
3.4.0 No Way - What won't run on PacifiST?
This segment features a list - as complete as we could make it - of
various programs that do *not* work on PacifiST. Individual games (just
like Falcons- specific applications such as "Rainbow") are not mentioned,
as they generally do not work. Exceptions may be found below, in 3.5.x.
Some titles may be in here although they work when you try them; this is
then probably caused by people not have tried both screen modes (so please
contact us soon and tell us in which screen mode it works for you).
3.4.1 Drawing & Art
Photochrome
Speed of Light
3.4.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
No titles known yet.
3.4.3 MIDI and Sound
No titles known yet.
3.4.4 Programming Utilities
Personal Pascal
STOS Compiler
3.4.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
No titles known yet.
3.4.6 Communications
No titles known yet.
3.4.7 Disk Magazines
No titles known yet.
3.4.8 Various (including most Utilities)
No titles known yet.
3.5.0 YES Way - This will run on PacifiST!
This segment features a list - as complete as we could make it - of
various programs that *do* work on PacifiST. Where needed, hints are given
on how to make programs work that may initially seem reluctant to function
properly or efficiently. Where necessary, information will be given about
which screen mode to use.
3.5.1 Drawing & Art
Canvas
Cyberpaint 2
Imagecopy 4
PicSwitch 0.7
Prism Paint
3.5.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
1st Word Plus (provided it is run from a virtual disk, and any docs are
on a virtual disk too!)
Everest
Protext
Tempus (the file selector even works better than the TOS one - see 3.6.0)
3.5.3 MIDI and Sound
No titles known yet.
3.5.4 Programming Utilities
Devpac ST 3
GfA Basic (but it's full of trouble unless you limit yourself to use
on/from virtual disks)
HiSoft Basic 2
STOS Basic (from virtual disk image only)
3.5.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
Superbase Professional
3.5.6 Communications
The following titles, unless specified otherwise, have been tested OFF
line, not ON line.
Antmail
Cab 1.5
Newsie
Stik
3.5.7 Disk Magazines
Maggie 22 (as disk image)
ST+ Diskmag, every issue so far (as disk image)
STOSSER diskmag, every issue so far (as disk image)
3.5.8 Various (including most Utilities)
Fastcopy Pro (check disk, etc. works fine)
K-Rhyme
K-Roget
Mega Depack
NeoDesk 3 (autorun seems impossible though?)
NVDI 2.11
Pack Ice 2.4
Revenge Doc Displayer
Ultimate Virus Killer (can even check images for viruses)
What Is
XControl Panel
3.5.9 Games
Don't Worry be Happy
3.6.0 PacifiST Problems...and how to solve them
This is one of the most important segments of the FAQ for PacifiST users
- the part where practical problems are exposed and consequently -
hopefully - tackled. It's divided in what is hopefully a practical
structure.
AUTO FOLDER
Q: I've got an AUTO folder in the root directory of mounted partition C:,
but still it doesn't work. Why?
A: Create a disk image for drive A with an AUTO folder on it, throwing in
all stuff you need. You can change the drive A path once PacifiST is
running with 2 or 3 keystrokes.
ITEM SELECTOR
Q: The item selector of TOS 2.06 cannot select another drive by means of
the shortcut buttons. How come?
A: ?
SUNDOG
Q: I've got PacifiST running great, but roughly every 20-30 minutes it
freezes up. The monitor goes all red and nothing in the game I am playing
("Sundog") will work. I can still return to the emulator, but no command
seems to help (e.g. F1 screen toggle, etc.). Some background info: I am
running PacifiST on a 486/25 with 3 megs of RAM. I am using TOS version
1.0, 2.6 didn't seem to take too well.
A: Could this just be a "Sundog" incompatibility? Copy protection or
such?
GFA BASIC
Q: I get really weird errors in "GfA Basic" source code when in the
interpreter, and similarly when I run compiled programs.
A: File I/O goes wrong with GfA Basic unless you run from virtual disks.
THAT'S WRITE
Q: I use pacifist 0.44 and programs like That's Write. I constantly face
the problem that I cannot select documents from folders within a given
program. I will get the following message instead: "this folder does not
exist...". I am still able to read the list of documents included in that
folder but will not be able to load any document. To load a document I
have to leave That's Write and I have to drag the document on the image of
That's Write on the desktop. I face similar problems with fonts I cannot
load within That's Write. Some fonts do not appear inside their font
folders when looked for within That's Write program. Does somebody have a
solution for that problem?
A: There seems to be a small bug with Hard Drive emulation and folders.
Try making a BIG floppy disk image (like 4Mb), and run your critical
software from there. Most HD problems can be resolved that way, even if it
is not the most 'elegant' solution. I believe the author is working on the
problem.
3.6.2 Programming under PacifiST
No entries yet.
3.6.3 Miscellaneous
Any PacifiST-related problems that didn't fit in either of the two
previous categories will be addressed in this paragraph.
DATE & TIME STAMP
Q: When you copy files from virtual disks to an actual PC partition, the
date and time stamp is all wrong. How come?
A: This is a bug in PacifiST. Fréderic is aware of it since 0.43.
KEYBOARD MAPPING
Q: In gemul8r classic some of the keys on the keyboard are not mapped
properly. For example Shift+2, which should give the @ symbol gives the "
symbol. I also have a problem with one of the slashes (forward or
backward, I can't remember). Does anyone have a list of the keyboard
mapping?
A: Doesn't this vary per TOS version and per TOS language?
VBE 2.0
Q: To be able to let some games and demos run, you need something called
VBE 2.0. Where can it find it?
A: VBE 2.0 is a standard of programming video cards and is much faster
than the older VBE 1.1. Some video cards have VBE 1.1 on board, but if
they don't then you can install a VBE 2.0 emulator, which is the thing
meant here. There are specific versions for specific video cards, but
there's also a popular one called "UniVBE" (a.k.a. "Display Doctor") by
SciTech (http://www.scitechsoft.com/). This works on most (?) video cards.
It comes free with some commercial games and is shareware. The file to
look for is sdd53.exe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
III: STONX
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.0 STonX
STonX is an Atari emulator for UNIX written by Marinos Yannikos,
currently at version 0.6.5. It's been ported to a DOS environment by Dirk
Jansen.
An official port for Windows 95 is underway, supporting such features as
DirectX and DirectSound. Expect a new, vastly improved version soon.
There is a rumour floating around that someone is writing an Atari ST
Emulator in Java, based on STonX. We'll keep you posted.
4.1 Where do I find the software?
Its author, Marinos Yannikos, can be reached at the following email
address: nino@complang.tuwien.ac.at.
Official STonX website:
http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/nino/stonx.html4.2
Place everything in its own directory, for example \STONX\. It will go
looking for a TOS image file called TOS.IMG. Run the STONX.EXE file, and
go from there. Adding a /? will have it come up with a listing of
commands. Below is this listing of commands;
usage: STONX.EXE []
=
-q Be Quiet
-size x (NYI)
-disk : Load diskfile as Drive :
-fs : Map to Drive :
-colo[u]r|-mono Set `monitor type'
-usec Set microsecond interval timer
-vbl Set * usec VBL interval
-timer-c Set * usec Timer C interval
-refresh Set * VBL refresh interval
-para Use as the parallel port device
-serial Use as the serial port device
-kmap Load the Keyboard mappings from
-noaudio Disable Audio driver
-noshm Disable XShm extension
-chunky Use `chunky' update mode
-warmboot Attempt to simulate a warm-boot
-private Use private colormap (speeds -color up)
-cconws Redirect GEMDOS Cconws() function to terminal
-vdi Use xlib-VDI
Example:
G:\STONX\STONX.EXE -disk a:Disk -color -usec 10000 -vbl 10 -refresh 2
-timer-c 1
...will use `Disk' for drive A:, boot in colour mode, and run Timer C at
100Hz, VBLs at 10Hz, and refresh with 5Hz, if your system allows interval
timers with 10 ms timer intervals (see setitimer(2)).
For the Linux/Unix version, follow the instructions in the documentation
file that came with it.
4.4.0 No Way - What won't run on STonX?
This segment features a list - as complete as we could make it - of
various programs that do *not* work on STonX. Individual games (just like
Falcons- specific applications such as "Rainbow") are not mentioned, as
they generally do not work. Exceptions may be found below, in 4.5.x.
4.4.1 Drawing & Art
No titles known yet.
4.4.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
No titles known yet.
4.4.3 MIDI and Sound
No titles known yet.
4.4.4 Programming Utilities
No titles known yet.
4.4.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
No titles known yet.
4.4.6 Communications
No titles known yet.
4.4.7 Disk Magazines
No titles known yet.
4.4.8 Various (including most Utilities)
No titles known yet.
4.5.0 YES Way - This will run on STonX!
This segment features a list - as complete as we could make it - of
various programs that *do* work on STonX. Where needed, hints are given on
how to make programs work that may initially seem reluctant to function
properly or efficiently.
4.5.1 Drawing & Art
Bitmap View 4
Imagecopy
Kandinsky
Papyrus
4.5.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
No titles known yet.
4.5.3 MIDI and Sound
No titles known yet.
4.5.4 Programming Utilities
No titles known yet.
4.5.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
No titles known yet.
4.5.6 Communications
No titles known yet.
4.5.7 Disk Magazines
No titles known yet.
4.5.8 Various (including most Utilities)
Formula (equation editor)
GEMBench (CPU check doesn't work though)
GEMView
Memfile (gets confused, but pressing both SHIFT keys will make sure it's
fine)
NVDI
4.5.9 Games
No titles known yet.
4.6.0 STonX Problems...and how to solve them
This is one of the most important segments of the FAQ for STonX users -
the part where practical problems are exposed and consequently - hopefully
- tackled. It's divided in what is hopefully a practical structure.
4.6.1 Software Compatibility
No entries yet.
4.6.2 Programming under STonX
No entries yet.
4.6.3 Miscellaneous
Any STonX-related problems that didn't fit in either of the two previous
categories will be addressed in this paragraph.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV: STEMU
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.0 STemu
STemu is a somewhat limited ST emulator written by Jochen Frank,
uk9a@rz.uni-karlsruhe.de, that emulates a bare-bones ST. It emulates an
Atari STE on an MS-DOS/PC machine with an 80486 processor or better. It
emulates the 68000 CPU, the standard Atari graphics resolutions, the
floppy disk drive, the mouse, the keyboard and the printer port. Games
don't work, as the MFP timer chip has not yet been fully implemented. It
is to be doubted if ever it will, as Jochen has decided (June 1997) to
stop developing it and simply make the source files available.
5.1 Where do I find the software?
http://shaw.iol.ie/~ajankows/st/stemu02.zip
5.2 Installing STemu
STemu requires that you create a directory containing all the files that
come in the archive, that is, stemu.exe, dos4gw.exe, and tos.img. The only
TOS that seems to run well under STemu is 1.62.
The emulator requires quite a bit of memory, so refer to the readme file
included in the archive to see how to give it some virtual memory.
To run the emulator, you will either want the monochrome or the colour
version.
Use either;
stemu M for the monochrome version
stemu C for the colour version
Note that it requires the M or C to be in uppercase letters, and will not
work with lowercase letters.
5.4.0 No Way - What won't run on STemu
This segment features a list - as complete as we could make it - of
various programs that do *not* work on STemu. Individual games (just like
Falcons- specific applications such as "Rainbow") are not mentioned, as
they generally do not work. Exceptions may be found below, in 5.5.x.
5.4.1 Drawing & Art
No titles known yet.
5.4.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
No titles known yet.
5.4.3 MIDI and Sound
No titles known yet.
5.4.4 Programming Utilities
No titles known yet.
5.4.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
No titles known yet.
5.4.6 Communications
No titles known yet.
5.4.7 Disk Magazines
No titles known yet.
5.4.8 Various (including most Utilities)
No titles known yet.
5.5.0 YES Way - This will run on STemu
This segment features a list - as complete as we could make it - of
various programs that *do* work on STemu. Where needed, hints are given on
how to make programs work that may initially seem reluctant to function
properly or efficiently.
5.5.1 Drawing & Art
No titles known yet.
5.5.2 DTP, Word Processing and Text Editor
No titles known yet.
5.5.3 MIDI and Sound
No titles known yet.
5.5.4 Programming Utilities
No titles known yet.
5.5.5 Spreadsheets & Databases
No titles known yet.
5.5.6 Communications
No titles known yet.
5.5.7 Disk Magazines
No titles known yet.
5.5.8 Various (including most Utilities)
No titles known yet.
5.5.9 Games
As mentioned in the above description, it will not run any games at the
moment, due to the Timer C of the MFP not yet being implemented.
5.6.0 STemu Problems...and how to solve them
This is one of the most important segments of the FAQ for STemu users -
the part where practical problems are exposed and consequently - hopefully
- tackled. It's divided in what is hopefully a practical structure.
5.6.1 Software Compatibility
No entries yet.
5.6.2 Programming under STemu
No entries yet.
5.6.3 Miscellaneous
Any STonX-related problems that didn't fit in either of the two previous
categories will be addressed in this paragraph.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
V: STIMUL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
6.0 STimul
STimul is another ST emulator currently in development, though there's no
release date as of yet. It is being written by Sebastien Brochet.
6.1 Where do I find the software?
Sebastien's email address is tenabiss@micronet.fr. A FAQ of his emulation
package (no actual software yet) can be found at the following URL:
http://www.micronet.fr/~tenabiss/anglais/coemu_an.html
EOF
