LightWave, AOS4 and The Grim Reaper

Hey, folks. There's a YouTube video showing off the classic 68K LightWave running fairly well on Sam440, so I thought I would give it a go.

So I've installed LW 5.0a, the latest Amiga version that I personally have (not sure if there are later versions), and it's running as it should for the most part. Of course, preview animations in Layout don't work, but that's the same case with my RTG classic Amigas. Otherwise, Layout and Modeler are working well at 1920x1080, and I'm not even having the Modeler interface font problem the YouTube video shows.

But I am have a nasty problem: When I try to render an image I get a visit from The Grim Reaper. Anybody know what I can do sidestep Mr. Reaper?

Here's the error:

Guru Meditation: 80000003
Task 0x56cfbb30 ("LightWave.FP")
generated an error of type DSI (Data Storage Interrupt)
on address 0x6ee15408
Redzone was not damaged
Stackpointer is inside bounds

@mbrantley

raise the stack in the icon?

also, not sure about lightwave but thinking back, I know Imagine had the option to render straight to file and not display it...

could be a work around for the moment anyway

eg just use your favourite 3rd party picture viewer to show your render... perhaps even the viewer in Diropus, although that won't scroll around a bigger than workbench image... as far as I can tell, in anycase

@Slayer

Good thought, Slayer. I increased the stack for LW.fp from 22000 to 50000 and that didn't help. I have the LW render screen set to none, but there is still a sort of a lo-res grayscale preview render that so far as I know can't be turned off. I would love to find out I'm wrong about that, however.

@mbrantley

50000 isn't much. Try ten times that - 500,000.

@mbrantley

I'm not sure the same directions for different versions of Lightwave would be consistent for OS4.x.
For example, I've seen certain settings that prevent the color selection panel (3 sliders and used throughout), from functioning properly.
I haven't experimented with this for a while, but I remember that I used ModePro (68k) in wbstartup and when each new "screen" was detected, I defined it.
I ended up with a copy that actually rendered a ham8 screen on the same screen as the text feedback for rendering.
When you say DSI though, somehow this sounds like another issue, and not an incorrectly defined screen.

Have you read the threads with posts from Stephen Fellner, where he describes his patch? I believe that was for the render issue on certain versions.

Here's the patch

one thread on this from 2006

another thread from 2009

#6

@number6

The patch on OS4depot is useless since OS4.1

@mbrantley

you can set LW to render to file. I don't think any other option will work

@Elwood

Quote:

Then why does Cobra (Stephen Fellner) say in the thread I just linked to:

"I'm using Lightwave on OS4.1 without problems."??

#6

Trying to use the patch and something seems odd: The default tool for the patch seems to be MultiView. That doesn't seem right. Trying to execute it its an unknown data type error.

@mbrantley

The date on the patch (OS4depot) shows "12 Feb 06".

But I found the later thread "28 Dec 06" where Stephen says the patch is no longer necessary.

Post #30

The "key" to a ton of the working mode promotions requires changing the setting in prefs/GUI.
Checkmark the box "planar screens on RTG".
That setting used to be under "Subsystem-Controls".

#6

@number6

Bingo! Thanks for finding that, number6. I just rendered a simple scene after making the change in prefs/gui, and there was no visit from Mr. Grim.

The only downside to this is that my learning of Blender will be slowed now that I'll be distracted by my old favorite, the classic Amiga edition of LightWave. Too bad the Layout wireframe preview animations aren't working. That's the only bummer.

Thanks again.

@mbrantley

Just out of curiosity, do me a favor.
You don't need any files loaded.
Choose "surfaces" and click on "surface color".
When you move the sliders, does the color change? (in the bar below the sliders)

#6

@number6

The colors do change in the bar to the left of the sliders. If you're bar is below the sliders we may have differeing LW versions. Mine is 5.0a.

Do the colors not change for you? That could be a bummer.

@mbrantley

Quote:

yep.

No, it's fine. I just remember that one time I tried promotion it did not change. iirc, changing the screen to its original smaller size solved it.

#6

@number6

Cool. :)

@mbrantley

I just noticed a similar struggle being discussed concerning Lightwave:

from last month

and also

from late last year

Maybe this is one of those rare situations where some kind of co-operative effort could be made to exchange info on the different versions and methods for getting this to work?

#6

@number6

Quote:

Good idea. Been trading e-mails with Steve (clusteruk in that MorphZone thread you referenced) and have just purchased an iMica Silent from him for AROS duty. I'm trying to run classic LW on anything and everything to get back that old feeling.

Just wish the preview worked in Layout.

EDIT: Just noticed I can render to JPEG from LW. Not sure if this was always a built-in function or came with some plugin I may have installed at some point. This installation has been copied over from computer to computer since the early 1990s. :)

@mbrantley

Quote:

I think I read somewhere that you had your classic set up?

Try using ModePro if your version of Lightwave runs on classic. This might be a good way to narrow in on the solution.

#6

@number6

Hey, I think you remember everything you've ever read on these forums. LOL! You could be the brain in a human-powered Amiga search engine.

My tricked-out A4000D has a sick motherboard, so she's down. That's what started me in all this next-gen Amiga stuff. Bought a replacement, but it's got bad audio. Sent that one to the guy in France, but I don't think he can fix it.

Anyway, on my 4000 I never got the LW preview working with RTG. I had it set up so I could run LW at 1024x768 using a promoted RTG mode with my CV643D card. When I did want to see the preview, I just dropped LW back down to its lower default resolution, which I did not promote. So it used the AGA chips to render the preview. Got no AGA/ECS/OCS chips at my disposal on my Sam440, of course, but maybe an answer lies in emulation.

Got this working in AROS under emulation, by the way, but I've got some work to do to get LW running in a bigger window or screen. And on MorphOS on my eMac, you wouldn't believe how fast the LW interface is, but I've got other problems there. Can't get it to render anything. Not sure there is a MOS solution to the planar screen business like there is on AOS4, and that may be the problem there.

Funny, but if I had what works best with AOS4, MOS and AROS all in one OS on one box, I'd really have something. LOL!

@mbrantley

Quote:

Do you see how similar that is to what I said in an earlier post?:

Quote:

I have my A4000 set up again. I'll run some tests.

I see you are using wookiechat now too?

If you would be interested in an irc channel for discussing this, let me know through PM here or on AW.

#6

@number6

Quote:

I'm not sure... and not sure we're talking about the same thing. When I say preview I mean the wireframe animation preview that has to be rendered and then played back within Layout. Is that what you're referencing? When running LW on a RTG screen, the preview appears to render but then is blank upon playback. I think the LW programmers were hitting the Amiga custom chips pretty hard for this.

Don't think I ever got on with Wookiechat, though I may have mentioned downloading it for my 68K setup some time ago. I will download the AOS4 version and let you know when I get it going.

I'm on vacation and playing with computers all week, but just now I'm going to take my daughter to dinner. Be seeing you. :)