WinFellow FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) v0.106 (2000/12/10)
==============================================================

                                                                  written by
                                         Torsten Enderling (carfesh@gmx.net)
                                                     Worfje (worfje@gmx.net)


Contents
--------

1.   Miscellaneous

1.1. I can't get <put your favourite game or demo here> working.
1.2. Where can I find/download the Kickstart ROM file?

2.   Floppy disk images

2.1. Which file formats are supported?
2.2. Saving games doesn't work.

3.   Hardfiles

3.1. What are hardfiles?
3.2. How do I use a hardfile?
3.3. Can I use my existing UAE hardfiles (*.hdf) with WinFellow?

4.   Filesystems

4.1. What are filesystems?
4.2. How do I use a filesystem?

5.   GUI

5.1. How can I play a game that has more than one disk /
     How can I switch a disk(image)?

6.   I still have questions!



1. Miscellaneous
----------------

1.1. I can't get <put your favourite game or demo here> working.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Many older games require special settings. Generally if having trouble check
the following check-list:
- some Kickstart versions require special CPU models, so play around with
  combinations of them; for example it is a bad idea to run Kickstart 1.2 on
  a '030 CPU
- some games are written for a fixed amount of Bogo or Chip memory, so try
  setting them both to 512 kB or even disable Bogo memory completely
- not all games behave nicely (some control the hardware directly) so that
  you may run into trouble when using things like "Fast Disk-DMA" or the
  immediate blitter
- many old games only make use of the first floppy drive and some do the
  strangest things when you try to use two drives
- timing may be critical, as some games do timing delays not by the timer
  but by delay loops; this will result in trouble when using CPU speeds
  other than the original 7 MHz

If in doubt, use a default A500 setting like:
- 68000 CPU at 7 MHz
- 1 floppy drive (disable the others!), leave "Fast Disk-DMA" unchecked
- 512 kB Chip and eventually 512 kB Bogo RAM
- Kickstart 1.3 or 1.2
- normal, delayed OCS blitter
- no filesystems or hardfiles, "Disable Autoconfig-devices"

If this configuration doesn't work and it's really an A500 game (not an AGA
thing or such) it's possibly a WinFellow problem.

1.2. Where can I find/download the Kickstart ROM file?
------------------------------------------------------

You can buy the Kickstart ROM at: http://www.cloanto.com


2. Floppy disk images
---------------------

Floppy disk images are used to  simulate  floppy  drives  connected  to  the
emulated Amiga. This is necessary as a PC can't read Amiga floppy disks.

2.1. Which file formats are supported?
--------------------------------------

WinFellow supports *.adf disk images and the compressed *.adz,  *.adf.gz  or
*.dms  images;  support  for these is built into WinFellow so you don't need
any additional executables.

ADF images
----------

Normal *.adf files are similar to a hardfile; they contain the  contents  of
an Amiga floppy disk dumped into a file and thus are always 880 kb large for
normal DD floppies. WinFellow can handle these without problems.

Note that there is also an "Extended" ADF file  format  which  is  used  for
example  by the games you may download at the Factor 5 homepage; these files
contain some tracks which are specially encoded (they still contain the copy
protection  I think); you can recognize these by their file size as they are
always larger than 880 kB. WinFellow currently does NOT  support  these  and
will crash if you try to use them.

ADZ and DMS images
------------------

ADZ and DMS images may be regarded  as  normal  ADF  files  that  have  been
compressed  to  reduce  their  size;  when  inserting  such  files WinFellow
temporarily decompresses them into a temporary ADF file which is  then  used
for your emulation session. Note that any changes saved to compressed images
will be lost as soon as you quit the emulator. So to write changes to a disk
decompress it manually before starting to work on it.

2.2. Saving games doesn't work.
-------------------------------

When trying to save games there are some things you should take care of:
- make sure the savedisk file is not write protected (when copied from a
  CD-ROM to your HD the file ususally is write protected)
- the file must not be compressed (see section about floppy image file
  formats); when saving to a compressed image the changes are only saved to
  the uncompressed temporary image which becomes deleted when you quit the
  emulator
- take care of the compatibility information described in section 1.1; often
  savedisk problems go away when using a more compatible setting as disk
  access is always a time critical thing
- some games require savedisks to be formatted in a special way; sometimes a
  fresh formatted empty AmigaDOS floppy will do, sometimes you have to
  create a disk in the game; if possible try using the savedisk that comes
  with the game or get a working one


3. Filesystems and hardfiles
----------------------------

3.1. What are hardfiles?
------------------------

Most of you probably already know this and may skip this paragraph. For  the
ones that are new to emulation here a short description:

A hardfile is used to simulate a harddrive connected to the emulated  Amiga.
Technically  a  hardfile  is a 1:1 copy of the contents of an Amiga harddisk
partition into a file. Having this in mind the restriction  a  hardfile  has
comes clear: a hardfile is of a fixed size and doesn't grow as it is written
to (like perhaps the Amiga RAM disk). When creating a hardfile you  have  to
specify  the  size the hardfile shall have, i.e. the amount of storage space
you will be able to use  on  the  simulated  Amiga  harddrive.  This  device
supports  all  features  a  real Amiga harddrive has (so you may for example
defrag it).

3.2. How do I use a hardfile?
-----------------------------

First of all you need a hardfile that is to be  used.  Perhaps  you  already
have  one from UAE or DOSFellow; if you don't have one you may now create it
in the configuration menu under the hardfile tab. Note that a newly  created
hardfile  is  just  a  file containing scratch; you need to format it on the
Amiga side to be able to write any data to it.

Add the hardfile to your config in the configuration  menu's  hardfile  tab.
Make  sure  that  "Disable  Autoconfig-devices"  (section  Various) is _not_
checked.  The  Autoconfig  functionality  is  needed  for   the   Amiga   to
automatically detect and initialize the device.

Also make sure you use a Kickstart version 2.0 or newer; with Kickstart  1.x
the  only  way  to  use hardfiles is by the use of mount files (perhaps I'll
explain this in a later version  of  the  FAQ)  and  booting  from  them  is
impossible (since the old Kickstart versions don't support Autoconfig).

You should now be able to use the file.  If  you  have  configured  a  newly
created file, you should insert a Workbench disk file fitting the configured
Kickstart, boot it and format the hardfile the way  you  want  it  (it  will
appear as FELLOW0).

If you're going to use an already existing file (and this file  is  bootable
and  not  only  a  data partition) eject all inserted floppy images and boot
from it (again you should make sure the used Kickstart version fits the  one
the hardfile has been installed with).

3.3. Can I use my existing UAE hardfiles (*.hdf) with WinFellow?
----------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, WinFellow uses UAE's hardfile format. When using  hardfiles  from  UAE,
these  must  not make use of the Picasso96 uaegfx-driver, as this one is not
yet supported by WinFellow. It also must not make use of AGA screenmodes.


4. Filesystems
--------------

4.1. What are filesystems?
--------------------------

Like a hardfile a filesystem is also used to simulate some  kind  of  device
connected  to  the emulated Amiga. But instead of using a file you configure
WinFellow to use a directory on one your windows devices that shall be  used
to store or read data.

This has the advantage that you don't have to care about the amount of  data
you want to store.
But this also has disadvantages: though on  the  first  look  the  simulated
device  looks  like  a  harddisk,  it  misses  some  features: formatting or
defragging a filesystem device is absolutely impossible (and would not  make
sense  either).  To defrag it you'll have to run the windows defrag over the
harddrive you stored the files on.
Another disadvantage lies in the differences between  the  Windows  and  the
Amiga  filesystem.  The  Amiga  filesystem  makes use of 8 different storage
flags (e.g. executable, writable, ...). The Windows filesystem only supports
3  flags,  but  even  these  aren't  really  usable for this purpose so that
actually only the windows archive flag is used to represent Amiga flags.
For an Amiga filenames like " " or ".. " are fine; Windows  runs  into  some
serious  trouble  when  you try to use such names. Just try to create a file
named CON, then you'll know what I mean... ;)
To get rid of this problem, a technique called  fsdb  (FileSystem  DataBase)
has  been  introduced  in UAE (and WinFellow, as WinFellow uses UAE code for
filesystem support).
Everytime a file has a name not supported by windows, uses flags that  can't
be  stored  or has a comment, an entry for this file is created in a special
database file.  This  file  stores  the  local  name,  the  according  Amiga
filename,  the  optional comment and the flags that are used. That way it is
possible to use the device exactly the same way an  Amiga  device  could  be
used,  allowing  to even boot from a filesystem (this was impossible without
the fsdb).

Now to what I really wanted to say: WinUAE uses a slightly different way  of
storing  the  flag  information as it makes also use of the write protection
bit to represent the Amiga's writable and deletable flags; we regarded  this
way  as  a  bad  solution  and  made  it  another  way.  This means that the
filesystem  support  from  WinUAE  is  not   necessarily   compatible   with
WinFellow's  support.  So  be careful when exchanging data over a filesystem
between them both.

4.2. How do I use a filesystem?
-------------------------------

Configure the filesystem in the configuration menu on  tab  filesystem.  You
might  also  check "Automount Windows-drives"; this will automatically mount
all hard disks, connected network drives and CD-ROMs as  Amiga  devices  (so
you don't have to configure anything manually).

Make sure that  "Disable  Autoconfig-devices"  (section  Various)  is  _not_
checked.   The   Autoconfig   functionality  is  needed  for  the  Amiga  to
automatically detect and initialize the device.

Again make sure you use a Kickstart version 2.0 or greater.

Now you need something you may boot from. I suggest a Workbench  disk  or  a
hardfile.  The  device  will  appear  under the name you configured. Install
Workbench to the filesystem if you like and try booting without  the  floppy
inserted.


5. GUI
------

5.1. How can I play a game that has more than one disk /
     How can I switch a disk(image)?
--------------------------------------------------------

You can switch disks(images) at runtime in WinFellow. You  can  do  this  by
pressing the function key <F11> during the emulation. After pressing the key
you can see  the  main  window  again  and  this  way  you  can  change  the
disk(images).  By clicking the "Start Emulation" button you can continue the
emulation at the point you pressed the function key.


6. I still have questions!
--------------------------

If you have questions not covered in this FAQ, find problems  not  mentioned
here  or  simply  don't understand something written here, don't hesitate to
mail me. This FAQ is still a draft and to be able to maintain it I need your
input.

For general questions about Amiga emulation you might also want to check the
Amiga emulation FAQ which can be found at:

http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/1473/faq.html

Laurent Clvy runs a detailed FAQ about the Amiga Filesystem you can find at

http://perso.club-internet.fr/lclevy/adflib/faq.html

