CATWEASEL MK4 PLUS

@All
You all may want to have a look at the support page for some interesting and very-subtly delivered news....

@MH2

Is the light always green or does it come on when you mount the device? If the former, then you have the floppy cable connected upside-down :) If the latter, you'll need to send me more details of what's not working. Does SuperDiskImage work, for instance? If you mount TD0: with no disk in and do nothing , does it start clicking the disk drive at all?

@All (again)
When you're submitting bug reports can you tell me what you were doing at the time? And what you'd done? For instance, had you changed disk just before the crash? Had you dismounted a device? Had you formatted a disk? What caused the crash, doing a DIR on a mounted disk, or issuing a diskchange, for instance... that sort of thing.

Also while your machines aren't doing what you expect, can you use the debug version of the catweasel.device please (i.e. copy devs/catweasel.device.debug devs:catweasel.device) otherwise we have no debug info through sashimi.

Edit: I'll try and hang around in #amigadev on irc.amigaworld.net where I can for people having trouble.

@Spirantho

So WHDLoad makes use of TD_RAWREAD command in its installers then? I tried looking for programs that use this command when I implemented IPF support in diskimage.device but googling for TD_RAWREAD command all I could find was some comments about how useless it supposedly is.

@salass00

WHDLoad uses CMD_READ for some installers (these should work fine anyway) and TD_RAWREAD for the ones with completely non-standard images.

I managed to successfully install "Ork" this morning, and that's a JST format disk, with completely weird sync signals and everything... this should allow me to install stuff like Shadow of the Beast 2 and things like this, but as usual I need feedback. :)

As I understand it, this makes the current AmigaOS 4 machines the only platform where you can install and run an original, protected game from the operating system directly (using RunInUAE).

@Spirantho
OK!
I have now made an new installation of AmigaOS4.1.
Not the update.

I have copy the catweasel.device, catweasel.device.debug and catweaselsid.device to Devs/Dosdrivers.

Havent any floppy connected too the cw-mobbo

When I reboot everything are black after the AmigaOS4.1 pix. Nothing hapend.

When I remove the cw- mobbo and reboot, AmigaOS4.1 will bee there as usual.

Have tested the cw-mobo on the 1 PCI port
and the 2 PCI port. Same behaver.

Will do some sasihmi output....

@MH2

Only copy one of catweasel.device or catweasel.device.debug to devs: (notdevs:dosdrivers/). If you want to use the debug version, you have to rename catweasel.device.debug to catweasel.device.
Did you put the mountlist into DEVS:Dosdrivers/ or SYS:Storage/dosdrivers? I'm assuming DEVS:dosdrivers as it's doing strange things on boot. If it's in SYS:Storage/dosdrivers it shouldn't be even looking at the device driver.

If you're having trouble, use the debug device, and make sure you do not have any catweasel mountlists in DEVS:DOSDrivers/.

Incidentally, could you type "version cw.device" from a shell window and let me know what it says please? Thanks!

@Spirantho

FINALY!!!!!

Have finaly make the catweasel work whith my XL-drive.

But only whith the old softwear.

More to come......

"Did you put the mountlist into DEVS:Dosdrivers/ or SYS:Storage/dosdrivers?"

"I'm assuming DEVS:dosdrivers as it's doing strange things on boot. "

Yes there are strage thing going on when puting the mount files in there. Mybe there are an strange bugg in the AmigaOS sytem

@MH2

It's not a bug in the OS.

I wrote in a post earlier that i had the exact same behaviour, but for me i get to the requester that is blocking the bootup for you too.

You just have to click away the requester that comes up telling you it can't find a suitable disk in drive, but obviously you can't AND haven't got the monitor driver loaded yet, thus being left sitting before a black screen.

Even IF you would reach the requester it's still too much trouble to click it away on every reboot (so i dropped the mountlists from devs again)

@Raziel

"It's not a bug in the OS."

"I wrote in a post earlier that i had the exact same behaviour, but for me i get to the requester that is blocking the bootup for you too."

I am know runing OS 4.1 only, no update. Fore me it is only black on this version.

I will do the test on the version 4.1.2 tomorow

But the most importen ting, just now, are that I realy known that my CW MK4 Plus is working, on my SamFlex.

Here are the sashimi output:
http://www.magham.se/sashimi.out
And one screenshoot:
http://www.magham.se/catweasel_floppy.jpeg

@MH2

You seem to be running loads of unnecessary stuff!

You shouldn't be using catfloppy or cw.device (there should be no cw.device anywhere on the system now, it's redundant - check devs:).

Why are you using the XL drive software? That's a hack for old classic Amigas to use HD drives! Goodness knows what it does on a modern machine. :)

You should only have the mountlists you need, take all catweasel mountlists out of devs:dosdrivers and put them into sys:storage/dosdrivers. Then just mount TD0: if you want an Amiga disk.

@Spirantho

"Why are you using the XL drive software? That's a hack for old classic Amigas to use HD drives! Goodness knows what it does on a modern machine." :)

It was the disk that where inside at the moment

And YES! I have an XL-drive

"You should only have the mountlists you need, take all catweasel mountlists out of devs:dosdrivers and put them into sys:storage/dosdrivers. Then just mount TD0: if you want an Amiga disk."

I have done some test, Why the screen turn black, when the
mount files are in the devs:dosdrivers, on soft and hard reboot.

I know now why it happens and can now move forward.

I have done the test on AmigaO S4.1 and no update. Today I will install the lates version of AmigaOS, and countune the test.

@MH2

So... you're using an expensive Amiga drive rather than a cheap PC one. OK.... :)

Either way you don't need the HighDensityPatch - that's a hack for trackdisk under OS 3.x - nothing to do with us.

You are very likely to find, however, that it won't work, because it's a dual-speed drive - It rotates at 150rpm instead of 300rpm when a high density drive is inserted (it has to because Paula requires the same bitrate, and normally HD drives are twice as fast as DD drives which is why PC HD drives don't work in HD on an Amiga). It may work under DD.

You know the crazy thing, though.. I'm now tempted to connect my XL drive just for the heck of it and see if it works. I should be able to get it to work quite easily, actually, just by changing timings. But it'd be a lot easier to use a ?5 PC drive. :)

You still need to remove all references to cw.device though (including the device handler) - it may well cause trouble.

New version being uploaded now, let us know how you get on!

@Spirantho

So... you're using an expensive Amiga drive rather than a cheap PC one. OK.... :)

Actually I have four ....

Three of them are, I think XL drives, and one PC-drive.


Either way you don't need the HighDensityPatch - that's a hack for trackdisk under OS 3.x - nothing to do with us.

OK!


"You are very likely to find, however, that it won't work, because it's a dual-speed drive - It rotates at 150rpm instead of 300rpm when a high density drive is inserted (it has to because Paula requires the same bitrate, and normally HD drives are twice as fast as DD drives which is why PC HD drives don't work in HD on an Amiga). It may work under DD".

The one that works for me whith the "old" softwear, has number 9410 1/130.

I have made two diffrent sashimi output:

http://www.magham.se/test_1_sashimi.out

http://www.magham.se/test_2_sashimi.out

I have writing down every step I did, so I will now test
whith the new version the same steps.



"You know the crazy thing, though.. I'm now tempted to connect my XL drive just for the heck of it and see if it works. I should be able to get it to work quite easily, actually, just by changing timings. "

Do that

Yes! according to the log and the behavor of the diskdrive,
it looks like the drive get an signal to be on, even if the
no floppy are inside.


You still need to remove all references to cw.device though (including the device handler) - it may well cause trouble.

Have done that

New version being uploaded now, let us know how you get on!

Downloading and will do an test soon

@MH2

Great stuff. I'll be in #amigadev on irc.amigaworld.net (though I use uk.amigaworld.net - irc.ami... seems unreliable) if you want to talk to me about bugs. :)

Edit: Looking at your Sashimi logs, in log 1, I can see you opened the device and then opened the device again. I presume you did something like a format, but it doesn't seem to think there's a disk in the drive. Is there?

Edit2: Can you send me your logs of what you did please? Otherwise it's hard to know what's causing what. :)

@Spirantho

I was just able to install Millennium2-2 from the copy protected original disk and run it through RuninUAE

iirc the disk itself was such a hard lock that no copy program on the classics could break it.
Only after WHDLoad came along i could at least enjoy this awesome classic and now again and on OS4

Many thanks Spirantho

Quote:

WOAH !!! Great work Ian This is GREAT NEWS indeed

I'm testing a new version at the moment which fixed bugs when you have many mountlists mounted, as well as probably the cause of these black-screen-on-booting bugs.

Should be able to upload it soon!

I did try and get the mountlists to work by autodetecting HD disks, but no joy. It seems that PC disk drives don't tell the controller when an HD disk has been inserted, so I have no way of telling! Shame that especially as I'd got most of the code working :) )

@Spirantho

I have now done the installation of the AmigaOS 4.1.2, and did get this error on the prog SuperDiskImage.

1. mount the files by hand
2. start superdiskimage
3. put ram:test.adf
4. press the read disk button

5. Krasch bong bang!!

http://www.magham.se/krasch_logg.txt

I cant reproduce the errors that I got on an V4.1 installtion, becuse the drive do not get any signal, totaly ded. I know making an another partion whith only AmigaOS4.1.

@MH2

Your link is dead. :)

In the meantime, can everyone try V1.9 please? It's on my updates page as normal (http://www.retroreview.com/iang/Catweasel/)!

@Spirantho

Fixed the link!



I made an test of the SuperDiskImage. Get error!

Load an empty adf file and then then press
"Load Image" button


I made a rar file whith the empty adf file and the krasch logg.

http://www.magham.se/amigadd-empty.rar

and did not mountet any files, becuse i dont mader


And YESSSSS! You have fix the upstart bug whith the mount files. Now it works for me

@MH2

Type the name of a new adf file (i.e. a file that doesn't exist), put in a known good Amiga DD file, check the prefs are correct, the unit number is correct, the flags are set to Amiga DD, then press Read Image.

If it doesn't work, copy the devs/catweasel.device.debug devs:catweasel.device, run sashimi, and send me the sashimi log.

Remember, to be able to use debug logs, you must be using the debug device as I mentioned above.