Now type hatari to run the +emulator for the first time. If all goes +well, you should now be presented with a window showing you the +familiar +little green desktop of the Atari ST. Press F12 +to turn on the GUI to +configure Hatari to suit your needs, press F11 +to toggle windowed and fullscreen mode.
+ +Configuration options precedence
+ +Hatari settings can come from several sources, with later ones +overriding the earlier given ones: +
-
+
- Builtin Hatari default options (which are different for old UAE and WinUAE + CPU core builds, former defaults to ST, latter to Falcon) +
- Global /etc/hatari.cfg + (or /usr/local/etc/hatari.cfg) + configuration file +
- User specific ~/.hatari/hatari.cfg + configuration file +
- Command line arguments +
- Option changes done at run-time in Hatari options GUI, with debugger "setopt" + command or through the (optionally enabled) Hatari control socket. +
Some of the run-time changes require emulation to be reset for them +to take effect.
+ + +Command line options and arguments
+ +Usage:
++ hatari [options] [disk image | directory | Atari program ] ++ +
As an argument one can give either a name of:
+-
+
- A floppy disk image, +
- A directory that should be emulated as a virtual GEMDOS HD, or +
- An Atari program that should be autostarted. In this case + the program's directory will be used as the C: drive from + where this program will be started. + (Note that autostarting a program might not work if you've also + specified a floppy image for drive A: on command line or in config + file which contains a desktop.inf/newdesk.inf/emutos.inf file on + it.) +
Booting will be done from the disk image or directory that's given +last on the command line as an option or the argument (and which +corresponds to A: or C:).
+ +Hatari command line options are split into several categories:
+ + + +General options
+-h, +--help
+Print command line options and +terminate
+-v, +--version
+Print version information and +terminate
+--confirm-quit +<bool>
+Whether Hatari confirms quitting
+-c, --configfile +<filename>
+Read additional configuration values from +<file>, these override values read from the global and +user configuration files +
+-k, --keymap +<file>
+load keyboard mapping from +<file>
+--fast-forward +<bool>
+On fast machine helps skipping (fast +forwarding) Hatari output
+ +Common display options
+-m, +--mono
+Start in monochrome mode instead of +color
+--monitor +<x>
+Select monitor type (x = +mono/rgb/vga/tv)
+-f, +--fullscreen
+Start the emulator in fullscreen +mode
+-w, --window
+Start the emulator in windowed mode
+--grab
+Grab mouse (also) in windowed mode
+--borders <bool>
+Show ST/STE/Falcon screen borders +(for low/med resolution overscan demos)
+--frameskips +<x>
+Skip <x> frames after each +displayed frame to accelerate emulation (0=disabled, >4 uses +automatic frameskip with given value as maximum)
+--slowdown <x>
+Slow down emulation by factor of x +(used as multiplier for VBL wait time)
+--statusbar +<bool>
+Show statusbar (with floppy leds etc +etc)
+--drive-led +<bool>
+Show overlay drive led when statusbar +isn’t shown
+--max-width +<x>
+Preferred / maximum window width +for borders / zooming
+--max-height +<x>
+Preferred / maximum window height +for borders / zooming
+--bpp +<bool>
+Force internal bitdepth (x = +8/15/16/32, 0=disable)
+ +ST/STE specific display options
+--desktop-st +<bool>
+Whether fullscreen mode uses desktop +resolution to avoid: messing multi-screen setups, several seconds +delay needed by LCD monitors resolution switching and the resulting +sound break. As Hatari ST/E display code doesn’t support +zooming (except low-rez doubling), it doesn’t get scaled (by +Hatari or monitor) when this is enabled. Therefore this is mainly +useful only if you suffer from the described effects, but still +want to grab mouse and remove other distractions from the screen +just by toggling fullscreen mode. (disabled by default)
+--spec512 +<x>
+Hatari uses this threshold to decide +when to render a screen with the slower but more accurate +Spectrum512 screen conversion functions (0 <= x <= 512, +0=disable)
+-z, --zoom +<x>
+Zoom (double) low resolution (1=no, +2=yes)
+ +TT/Falcon specific display options
++Zooming to sizes specified below is internally done using integer scaling +factors. This means that different Atari resolutions may show up with +different sizes, but they are never blurry. +
--desktop <bool>
+Whether to use desktop resolution on +fullscreen to avoid issues related to resolution switching. +Otherwise fullscreen will use a resolution that is closest to the +Hatari window size. (enabled by default)
+--force-max +<bool>
+Hatari window size is forced to +specified maximum size and black borders used when Atari resolution +doesn’t scale evenly to it. This is most useful when +recording videos of Falcon demos that change their resolution. +(disabled by default)
+--aspect +<bool>
+Whether to do monitor aspect ratio +correction (enabled by default)
+ +VDI options
+--vdi +<bool>
+Whether to use VDI screen mode
+--vdi-planes +<x>
+Use extended VDI resolution with bit +depth <x> (x = 1, 2 or 4)
+--vdi-width +<w>
+Use extended VDI resolution with width +<w> (320 < w <= 1280)
+--vdi-height +<h>
+Use extended VDI resolution with height +<h> (200 < h <= 960)
+ +Screen capture options
+--crop +<bool>
+Remove statusbar from the screen +captures
+--avirecord
+Start AVI recording. Note: recording will +automatically stop when emulation resolution changes.
+--avi-vcodec <x>
+Select AVI video codec (x = bmp/png). +PNG compression can be much slower than using the uncompressed BMP +format, but uncompressed video content takes huge amount of space.
+--png-level <x>
+Select PNG compression level for AVI video (x = 0-9). +Both compression efficiency and speed depend on the compressed +screen content. Highest compression level (9) can be really +slow with some content. Levels 3-6 should compress nearly as well +with clearly smaller CPU overhead.
+--avi-fps <x>
+Force AVI frame rate (x = 50/60/71/...)
+--avi-file <file>
+Use <file> to record AVI
+ +Devices options
+-j, +--joystick <port>
+Emulate joystick with cursor keys in +given port (0-5)
+--joy<port> +<type>
+Set joystick type (none/keys/real) for +given port
+--printer +<file>
+Enable printer support and write data +to <file>
+--midi-in +<filename>
+Enable MIDI support and write MIDI data +to <file>
+--midi-out +<filename>
+Enable MIDI support and read MIDI data +from <file>
+--rs232-in +<filename>
+Enable serial port support and use +<file> as the input device
+--rs232-out +<filename>
+Enable serial port support and use +<file> as the output device
+ +Disk options
+--drive-a +<bool>
+Enable/disable drive A (default is on)
+--drive-b +<bool>
+Enable/disable drive B (default is on)
+--drive-a-heads +<x>
+Set number of heads for drive A (1=single sided, 2=double sided)
+--drive-b-heads +<x>
+Set number of heads for drive B (1=single sided, 2=double sided)
+--disk-a +<file>
+Set disk image for floppy drive A
+--disk-b +<file>
+Set disk image for floppy drive B
+--protect-floppy +<x>
+Write protect floppy image contents +(on/off/auto). With "auto" option write protection is according to +the disk image file attributes
+--protect-hd +<x>
+Write protect hard drive <dir> +contents (on/off/auto). With "auto" option the protection can be +controlled by setting individual files attributes as it disables +the file attribute modifications for the GEMDOS HD +emulation
+--gemdos-case <x>
+Specify whether new dir/filenames are forced to be +in upper or lower case with the GEMDOS HD emulation. Off/upper/lower, off by default +
+-d, --harddrive +<dir>
+Emulate hard disk partition(s) with +<dir> contents. If directory contains only single letter +(C-Z) subdirectories, each of these subdirectories will be treated +as a separate partition, otherwise the given directory itself will +be assigned to drive "C:". In the multiple partition case, the +letters used as the subdirectory names will determine to which +drives/partitions they’re assigned. If <dir> is +an empty string, then harddrive's emulation is disabled
+--acsi +<file>
+Emulate an ACSI hard drive with an image +<file>
+--ide-master +<file>
+Emulate an IDE master hard drive with an +image <file>
+--ide-slave +<file>
+Emulate an IDE slave hard drive with an +image <file>
+--fastfdc +<bool>
+Speed up FDC emulation (can cause +incompatibilities)
+ +Memory options
++--memstate <file>
+Load memory snap-shot <file>
+-s, --memsize +<x>
+Set amount of emulated RAM, x = 1 to 14 +MiB, or 0 for 512 KiB
+ +ROM options
+-t, +--tos <imagefile>
+Specify TOS ROM image to use
+--patch-tos +<bool>
+Use this option to enable/disable TOS +ROM patching. Experts only! Leave this enabled unless you know what +you are doing!
+--cartridge +<imagefile>
+Use ROM cartridge image <file> +(only works if GEMDOS HD emulation and extended VDI resolution are +disabled)
+ +CPU options
++--cpulevel <x>
+Specify CPU (680x0) to use (use x >= +1 with EmuTOS or TOS >= 2.06 only!)
+--cpuclock +<x>
+Set the CPU clock (8, 16 or 32 Mhz)
+--compatible +<bool>
+Use a more compatible, but slower 68000 +CPU mode with better prefetch accuracy and cycle counting
+ +Misc system options
++--machine <x>
+Select machine type (x = st, ste, tt or +falcon)
+--blitter +<bool>
+Enable blitter emulation (ST only)
+--dsp <x>
+Falcon DSP emulation (x = none, dummy +or emu, Falcon only)
+--timer-d +<bool>
+Patch redundantly high Timer-D +frequency set by TOS. This about doubles Hatari speed (for ST/e +emulation) as the original Timer-D frequency causes most of the +interrupts.
+--fast-boot +<bool>
+Patch TOS and initialize the so-called +"memvalid" system variables to by-pass the memory test of TOS, so +that the system boots faster.
+--rtc +<bool>
+Enable real-time clock
+ +Sound options
+--mic +<bool>
+Enable/disable (Falcon only) +microphone
+--sound +<x>
+Sound frequency: 6000-50066. "off" +disables the sound and speeds up the emulation. To prevent extra +sound artifacts, the frequency should be selected so that it either +matches evenly with the STE/TT/Falcon sound DMA (6258, 12517, +250033, 50066 Hz) or your sound card frequencies (11025, 22050, +44100 or 6000...48000 Hz). Check what your sound card supports.
+--sound-buffer-size +<x>
+SDL’s sound buffer size: 10-100, +or 0 to use default buffer size. By default Hatari uses an SDL +buffer size of 1024 samples, which gives approximatively 20-30 ms +of sound depending on the chosen sound frequency. Under some OS or +with not fully supported sound card, this default setting can cause +a bigger delay at lower frequency (nearly 0.5 sec). In that case, +you can use this option to force the size of the sound buffer to a +fixed number of milliseconds of sound (using 20 is often a good +choice if you have such problems). Most users will not need this +option.
+--sound-sync +<bool>
+The emulation rate is nudged by +100 or
+0 or -100 micro-seconds on occasion. This prevents the sound buffer
+from overflowing (long latency and lost samples) or underflowing
+(short latency and repeated samples). The emulation rate smoothly
+deviates by a maximum of 0.58% until synchronized, while the
+emulator continuously generates every sound sample and the crystal
+controlled sound system consumes every sample.
+(on|off, off=default)
--ym-mixing +<x>
+Select a method for mixing the three +YM2149 voice volumes together. "model" uses a mathematical model of +the YM voices, "table" uses a lookup table of audio output voltage +values measured on STF and "linear" just averages the 3 YM +voices.
+ +Debug options
+-W, --wincon
+Open console window (Windows only)
+-D, +--debug
+Toggle whether CPU exceptions invoke +the debugger
+--debug-except <flags>
+Specify which exceptions invoke debugger, see +"--debug-except help" for available (comma separated) exception +flags.
+--bios-intercept
++Toggle XBios command parsing. Allows Atari programs to use all Hatari +functionality and change Hatari state through Hatari specifit +XBios(255) calls. XBios(20) printscreen calls produce also Hatari +screenshots.
+--conout <device>
+Enable console (xconout vector functions) output +redirection for given <device> to host terminal. Device 2 is for +the (CON:) VT52 console, which vector function catches also EmuTOS panic +messages and MiNT console output, not just normal BIOS console output.
+--disasm <x>
+Set disassembly options. 'uae' and 'ext' select +the dissasembly engine to use, bitmask sets output options for the +external disassembly engine and 'help' lists them.
+--natfeats <bool>
+Enable/disable (basic) Native Features support. +E.g. EmuTOS uses it for debug output.
+--trace +<flags>
+Activate debug traces, see +"--trace help" for available tracing flags
+--trace-file +<file>
+Save trace output to <file> +(default=stderr)
+--parse +<file>
+Parse/execute debugger commands from +<file>
+--saveconfig
+Save Hatari configuration and exit. +Hatari UI needs Hatari configuration file to start, this can be +used to create it automatically.
+--no-parachute
+Disable SDL parachute to get Hatari +core dumps. SDL parachute is enabled by default to restore video +mode in case Hatari terminates abnormally while using non-standard +screen resolution.
+--control-socket +<file>
+Hatari reads options from given socket +at run-time
+--log-file +<file>
+Save log output to <file> +(default=stderr)
+--log-level +<x>
+Log output level +(x=debug/todo/info/warn/error/fatal)
+--alert-level +<x>
+Show dialog for log messages above +given level
+--run-vbls +<x>
+Exit after X VBLs
+ +Type hatari --help to list all +the command line options supported by a given version of Hatari.
+ + +Using the emulated system
+ +Once you've started Hatari successfully, you can use the emulator as +an almost complete Atari ST computer system.
+ +The GUI
+ +Press F12 to enter the GUI. Navigate it +with the mouse. +The GUI is rather self explanatory.
+ +The Main Menu
+ +
++You can reach the other setup dialogs from the main menu by clicking on +the appropriate buttons. +
++You can load the current settings from a configuration file by clicking +on and you can save +the current settings to a configuration file by clicking on +. +
++Click to go back and continue the emulation. +All changed options will be applied. +
++Select the option if you +want the emulated machine to perform a cold reset. This is equal to +switching the power off and on again on a real Atari machine. +
++Click to terminate Hatari +and return to the host OS. +
++Click to abandon any +changes that you have made. +
+ + +The File Selector Dialog
+ +
++ The file selector dialog appears whenever you are prompted to choose a file + or folder. +
++ To enter a folder or choose a file, simply click on the entry in the + main box of the dialog. To navigate in the file list, you can use the + scrollbar on the right with mouse, or use keyboard up + down arrow, + page up + down, Home and End keys. +
++ You can use the three buttons in the upper right corner for additional folder + navigation. Click the button to go up one level + in the directory tree. Click the button to return + to your home directory. The button can be clicked + to go to the root directory of the file system. +
+ + +The System Dialog
+ +
++ The system dialog can be used to define the basic hardware attributes of + the machine that should be emulated. +
+
+ The machine type option is used to select the type of Atari computer to
+ be emulated. The ST was the very first 16/32-bit computer from Atari.
+ Most older games and demos require an ST. The STE was introduced some years
+ later and had some more advanced hardware features. There are not that many
+ demos or games that really require an STE but since most normal ST games/demos
+ also work with an STE, it's normally safe to always work in STE mode.
+
+ TT and Falcon are more advanced, but they are not as compatible to the ST as
+ the STE was. Therefore many old games and demos do not work with these machine
+ types anymore. There were only very few programs that were made for the TT
+ exclusively, while there were some interesting games and demos specially made
+ for the Falcon.
+
+ Note: Falcon and especially TT emulation are still considered as
+ experimental and incomplete.
+ Quite a bunch of programs do not work very well yet.
+
+ For STE emulation a STE compatible TOS image, e.q. version 1.06, 1.62 or + 2.x, is strongly recommended. For TT emulation you need TOS 3.0x and for Falcon + emulation you need TOS 4.0x. EmuTOS can be used on all machine types. +
+ ++ The CPU type option can be used to select the level of the central processing + unit. If you are not sure what to use, simply select 68000 for ST and STE + machines and 68030 for TT and Falcon emulation, since this were the original + configurations used in the Atari computers. In case you want to vary + the CPU type, you have got to be aware of some constraints: +
+-
+
- + Atari ST and STE have only been shipped with a 68000 CPU, so for best + compatibility with old programs, you should choose this CPU type. + +
- + If you are going to use TOS 1.0x, you also have to select the 68000 CPU, + since these TOS versions are not aware of the higher CPU levels yet. + If you want to use a higher CPU level with the ST or STE machine type, + you've got to use TOS 2.0x instead. + +
- + Atari TT and Falcon computers were using the 68030 CPU, so you should select + the 68030 CPU type for these machines. + +
- + TOS 3.0x and 4.0x also only work with a CPU >= 68020. + +
- + 68010 and 68040, 68060 have never been used in official Atari computers, + so don't use these CPU types unless you've got some good reasons. + +
- + The 68060 option is only available in the "WinUAE" builds of + Hatari, and is currently also considered as experimental, so do not use + this option unless you know what you are doing. + +
+ The CPU clock option can be used to select the frequency that is used + to clock the CPU. 8 Mhz is the standard for ST and STE and the most + compatible frequency for old software. + Use 16 MHz for Mega STE and Falcon emulation. + The CPU in the TT was clocked with 32 MHz. +
++ For Falcon mode, you can choose whether you want to disable DSP emulation, + fake it or enable full emulation. Most Falcon programs only play sound or work + correctly when you enable the DSP emulation, but it needs a lot of host CPU + power (more than 2 GHz) for full emulation. So if you have a slow host CPU, + you can try if your Falcon program also runs with DSP disabled or in + the "dummy" fake mode. + Note that you can not change this option while the DSP based program already + runs. +
++ The check boxes in the "CPU and system parameters" section can + be used to fine-tune the machine and CPU types. +
++ If you enable the "Real time clock emulation" switch, a RTC (like the ones + that could be found in the Mega-ST and Mega-STE computers) will be emulated + based on the time of the host computer. + This option is only affects the emulation of ST and STE machines. TT and + Falcon used a different kind of RTC (which is not optional and thus always + enabled in Hatari). + Note: You need at least TOS 1.02 for proper RTC emulation, TOS 1.00 does + not support this. +
++ The next check box can be used to enable/disable Blitter emulation. + The Blitter is a custom chip that accelerates some graphical operations. + This switch only toggles the Blitter in plain ST mode. In STE and Falcon mode, + the Blitter is always enabled (since these machines have always been sold + with a Blitter chip). The TT was always shipped without the Blitter chip. +
++ The "Patch Timer-D" option changes the Timer-D initialization from + TOS. TOS uses the MFP timer D as a baudrate generator for RS232. However, the + TOS default value slows down the emulation. The patch gives you a better + performance. It is normally safe to enable the patch, but if you encounter a + program that does not work, you can try to disable the patch to see if it + works better. +
++ With the "Boot faster" option, Hatari patches the TOS ROM and some + system variables, to speed up the boot process of the emulated system, e.g. + by simulating a warm reset. This is a convenient option, but some very few old + programs rely on an unmodified boot process, so in rare cases this option has + to be switched off to get those programs running. +
++ The "Prefetch mode" option is used to enable the emulation of 68k + address errors and the so-called CPU prefetch buffer. This is needed for best + compatibility, but it slows down emulation a little bit so you can disable it + if you don't need it and if you have a slow host system. +
++ The "Cycle exact", the "MMU emulation" and + "24-bit addressing" option are only available in the + "WinUAE" builds + of Hatari. They are considered as experimental and should be switched off + unless you know what you are doing. +
++ The FPU settings are also only available with the "WinUAE" builds + of Hatari. They can be used to select the type of floating point unit of CPUs + >= 68020. In the normal builds of Hatari, the FPU is always enabled for + 68030 and 68040 CPUs. +
++ NOTE: The emulated Atari system is very very sensitive to all of + these options and it is strongly recommended to reset the emulation after + changing them (for most things that's done automatically). + The correct CPU type and clock are automatically selected when one uses the + --machine command line option. +
+ + +The Floppy Disks Dialog
+ +
++ This dialog can be used to choose which floppy disks should be emulated + in the disk drives. You can use most standard Atari ST disk image files. + You may select and browse also zipped disk images. See the chapter + "Floppy disk images" for details. +
++ Each drive can be enabled or disabled (as if it was not connected or turned + off). You can also choose to emulate a single sided drive instead of a double + sided one (some games or demos will have a different behaviour in single sided + mode). +
++ Click on the button next to the + A: and B: option to go to the fileselector to choose a disk image for the + corresponding drive. +
+Click on to eject a disk image +from the emulated drive. The emulated ST will act as if had no floppy +disk in its drive.
+You can specify a default directory where Hatari will start to +browse the filesystem.
+
+Check the "Auto insert B" option if you want Hatari to be smart and
+insert the second disk of a two disk game automatically.
+Some games then use the second drive automatically.
+In the case that a game is not able to find the disk in the second drive,
+you have to insert the second disk in drive A: manually when prompted.
+
+NOTE: This option only works properly if the file name of the
+first disks ends with an 'a' before the extension and the second disk name
+ends with a 'b'.
+
+ Select if you want to use fast FDC (Floppy Disk Controller) emulation. + + "Fast floppy access" option will speed up disk accesses, but this can + cause incompatibilities with programs that expect correct delays + (some games/demos don't expect data to be read too fast from the + disk). For example, when using STX images, most protections will fail + if fast floppy access is enabled. +
++ If you want, you can set Hatari to write-protect your disks. Atari ST + virii can spread on disk images, so that can be a good idea. However, + note that some programs won't work correctly (or at all) with write + protected disks, and things like saving highscores in games will fail. +
+ +
++ If you need to create a new blank disk image, click on + . + Parameters for the new image can be set in the following dialog. HD + and ED disk sector counts are for larger, non-Atari disk sizes, they + can be useful with programs that don't work from hard drive, or with + with GEMDOS HD emulation. + Click on to save the new image or on + to return to the disk dialog. +
++ After clicking , a fileselector + appears. You can browse the filesystem now. Select the target directory, + click beside "File:" and type in a name for the new disk image. + The name should terminate with .st or .msa. +
++ Hatari can currently create plain .ST and .MSA disk images exclusively. + hmsa command line utility can be used + to convert disk images between .ST and .MSA formats. +
+ + +The Hard Disks Dialog
+ +
++ This dialog can be used to change the hard disk settings. +
++ Here you can select a hard disk image file for ACSI, IDE master or + slave hard drive emulation, or you can select a host directory to be + emulated as the Atari hard drive. +
++ Check "Boot from HD" if you want Hatari to execute the AUTO folder on + the hard disk. This option is checked by default if you specify a + hard disk image or a directory via the command line. +
++ Removing the check from the "Allow GEMDOS drive modification" option + will prevent Atari programs from modifying the files in GEMDOS HD + emulation directory or creating new files under it. +
++ Note that you need TOS version >= 2.05 to boot from IDE hard drive. + And ACSI hard drive emulation does not work with TOS 4.0x in Falcon mode. +
+ + +The Memory Dialog
+ +
+You can select the amount of RAM for the emulated ST here. Only +amounts that were valid on a real unmodified STFM can be selected.
+Note: This option is critical and you are strongly advised +to reset the emulated ST +when changing this option.
+Here you will find the options to save memory snapshots as well.
+Click on to save a memory snapshot +to file. You can select a new filename here.
+Click on to restore a memory +snapshot from a file. Use the fileselector to select the snapshot to be +restored.
+NOTE: Memory snapshots are not interchangeable between +different versions of Hatari. E.q. if you compile a newer Hatari, you +cannot load your old memory snapshots back.
+ + +The ROM Dialog
+ +
+Here you can select the TOS image to use. Click on to select it via the fileselector. +You can also select an optional cartridge image to use. Click on to select one via the fileselector. Click on to disconnect the custom cartridge image. +
++For ST mode, use TOS 1.00, 1.02, 1.04 or 2.06. +For STE mode, use TOS 1.06, 1.62, 2.05 or 2.06. +If you want to use the TT mode, you must specify a TOS 3.06 image here. +And in Falcon mode, you have to use either TOS 4.00, 4.02, 4.04 or 4.92. +However, you should always use TOS 4.04 for Falcon mode, it's the most common one. +Also note that TOS 4.92 can not be booted from a boot disk (like it's done on a +real Falcon), you have to specify it directly in the TOS ROM setup dialog here. +
++Keep in mind that any custom cartridge image will not work together with +GEMDOS HD emulation or the VDI extended resolution emulation +since some additional driver code will be used in the cartridge memory +space for these emulations. +
++Note: These options are critical and you are strongly +advised to reset the emulated ST +when changing one of these option. +
+ + +The Joystick Dialog
+ +
+In this dialog, you can configure the emulated joysticks. +With the upper two arrows, you can choose the joystick which you want to +configure.
+Joystick 1 is the normal ST joystick port and 99.9% of all ST games +use this port. +Joystick 0 emulates a joystick plugged into the ST mouse port +and is often used in games for two players.
+With STE joypad A and B, you can enable the emulation of Jaguar joypads +which are plugged in the enhanced joystick ports of the Atari STE. +Only very few STE games support these joypads, so you often won't need this.
+Finally, Hatari also emulates joysticks which were plugged on the parallel +port with a special adapter on a real ST. These were used in some few +multi-player games like "Gauntlet 2".
+For each ST joystick, choose whether you want to disable it, +use the keyboard for emulation or use a real PC joystick.
+For keyboard emulation, you can select the keys by pressing the + button. You will be prompted to press +the keys for up, down, left, right and fire.
+If you want to use a real PC joystick for the emulation, you should connect +it to your PC before you start Hatari. Then you can choose the joystick with +the two lower arrows.
+Check the "Enable autofire" option if you are too lazy to pound +on the fire button in shoot'em-up games. However, this option only works with +certain games. In some other games, it gets worse if you enable this option.
+See also the chapter "Emulated Joystick" for details.
+ + +The Atari Monitor Dialog
+ +
++ Here you control the video output of the emulated Atari. +
+
+ You can select which sort of monitor to use. This option depends on
+ the machine type which you have selected in the "System options"
+ dialog. In ST and STE mode, you can choose between monochrome mode
+ (select "Mono") and color mode (select one of the other monitor types).
+ Note that when you select "TV" and use zoomed low resolution or
+ switch to ST medium resolution, you will get a TV-like screen rendering
+ which is a little bit faster but darker compared to the normal "RGB"
+ monitor mode. Switching between mono and a color monitor acts like a monitor
+ switch on a real ST - so beware, this will reboot your emulated system!
+ In TT mode, you can only choose between TT-high resolution ("Mono")
+ and normal modes (select one of the other monitor types).
+ Finally the Falcon mode supports all four types of monitors. Note that most
+ Falcon demos/games require a RGB or TV mode, and do not work with
+ VGA, although there are also few VGA-only games and demos.
+
+ "Show ST/STE borders" toggles the displaying of the borders around the ST / + STE. Some demos and games use the screen borders for displaying + additional graphics. As enabling this option increases CPU computing time, + don't enable it if you have a very slow computer. + Borders are shown also in Falcon emulation, but Videl emulation doesn't + yet support palette effects. + This option doesn't affect TT screen mode or extended VDI resolutions. +
+
+Extended VDI resolutions will emulate a sort of extended graphics card
+in the emulated machine, which gives you larger (2-16 color)
+resolutions for GEM. Select a resolution and color depth. Check to
+activate. This mode isn't affect by the other video options mentioned
+above. Uncheck to get back to a normal ST behaviour.
+
Note that there are several gotches with extended VDI +resolutions:
+-
+
- Only GEM conformant applications work with them, 99% of all games +and demos don't. +
- Several GEM programs accessing screen directly (like NVDI) crash +with large enough screen sizes. +
- Memory reserved for (larger) extended resolutions breaks TOS v3 memory +detection, so you need to interrupt boot up memory detection. +
- TOS v4 isn't compatible with them. In Falcon emulation you need to +use EmuTOS with extended resolutions. +
+Because TT and Falcon support natively larger resolutions, +VDI mode is most useful with ST / STE emulation. +
+ + +The Hatari Screen Dialog
+ +
++Here you control how the video output of the emulated Atari appears +on your screen. +
+ ++ Check "Fullscreen" to run Hatari in fullscreen. By default Hatari + runs in windowed mode. +
+
+ The "Frame Skip" option can be used to speed up the emulator
+ if it is running too slow on your system. Disable frame-skip if you have
+ a fast computer. When selecting 1, 2 or 4, drawing of corresponding number
+ of frames will be skipped after each frame actually shown by Hatari.
+ Select "Auto" to let the emulator to decide whether, and
+ how many frames will be skipped.
+ Note: The frameskip option also affects the frame rate of the
+ screen animation recording!
+
+Indicators that you can have on the Hatari window: +
+-
+
- "Statusbar" at the bottom of the screen. +The statusbar shows the floppy drive LEDs, the current frameskip value, +the machine type including TOS version and memory size, and whether +recording is currently active. +
- "Drive led" is a colored rectangle shown on top of the Hatari window +contents. It will show any disk (floppy or hard drive) activity. +
- "None" turns both of above options off. +
+"Keep desktop resolution" option will use your desktop resolution +for fullscreen to avoid issues related to resolution switching, +especially on LCD monitors (they're slow). If this isn't enabled, +values from the "Max zoomed win" option are used in selecting +a suitable resolution. +
+"Max zoomed win" option controls up to which size Hatari tries to scale +the Atari resolutions and how much of the borders (enabled in Atari +Monitor dialog) will be shown. Note that there are several limitations +in this and the "Keep desktop resolution" option, partly because Hatari +has different implementations for different video modes: +
+-
+
- VDI resolutions (selectable in Atari Monitor dialog) aren't scaled. +
- ST and STE video emulation supports only doubling of the ST-low + resolution. +
- Hatari doesn't support downscaling. If the original Atari resolution + is larger than the specified size (e.g. TT-high), the Hatari screen + size will also be larger than requested. Hatari Falcon/TT window size + will be limited to the Desktop size though. +
- TT and Falcon resolutions support only integer scaling ratios. + If the scaling ratio cannot match the requested size exactly, Hatari + will use a ratio that will produce smaller size closest to the + requested one. +
+You should set these values to a size that suits best your monitor +resolution. It's intended to help in getting Hatari to best use your +monitor space on a windowed mode and in fullscreen avoiding "fuzzy" +scaling done by your LCD monitor. +
++Giving "-z 2" option on command line will reset max zoomed size to +default values and "-z 1" will disable all zooming. +Note that zooming takes additional CPU computing time and should +not be enabled on very slow computers. +
+Click the button to create +a screenshot in PNG (or BMP) format to the current working directory +or click the button to +record an AVI format video of Hatari screen (and audio) output. +
++Selecting "Crop statusbar" option will leave statusbar out from +the screenshots and recorded videos. +
+ +The Keyboard Dialog
+ +
+Here you can select the keyboard mapping to use. Two different mappings + called "Symbolic" and "Scancode" are predefined.
+"Symbolic" tries to map the symbolic values of your PC keys + to the ST keys. It should be working pretty good on all systems as long + as your keyboard layout looks close to the standard english keyboard + layout. However, you might experience some problems with special keys like + brackets etc.
+"Scancode" uses the scancode values of your PC keys for keyboard + mapping. This only works on certain architectures like Linux where the + scancodes are similar to the ST scancodes (e.g. it does not work on Mac OS X). + If it works on your system, this often gives better results than the symbolic + mapping. Note that you also need a TOS version with the right language + (e.g. use a French TOS if you are using a French keyboard).
+You can also load a custom keyboard mapping file here if you wish. Please + note that the custom keyboard mapping will use the "symbolic" + mapping for all keys that are not defined by your map file. Have a look + at the supplied example mapfile (keymap-sample.txt) to see how to create + your own keyboard mapping.
++ When the emulator runs in fast forward mode, and you want to type text, + it can be annoying that the emulated system detects multiple key events + due to the key repetition of the emulated system. To avoid this you can + disable the key repetition in fast forward mode here. +
+ + +The Sound Dialog
+ +
+Here you can control the sound subsystem.
+Check "Enabled" if you want emulated sound at all. Emulation is faster if +sound emulation is turned off.
+If you experiment latency issues with your OS audio's output, you +can check the "Synchronize" option to adjust Hatari's video emulation to match +your OS audio.
++ Nine frequencies from low to high quality are available. Experiment a + little bit to find out which fits best for your setup. + For most modern computers, 44100 Hz or 48000 Hz should be fine. + For older or slower host systems, you should use a lower frequency. + 12517, 250033 and 50066 Hz are frequencies supported by + the STE/TT/Falcon sound DMA. +
++YM voices volume mixing "ST table" method uses a lookup table of audio output +voltage values measured on STF, "Math model" uses a complex model to mix the +3 YM voices and "Linear" just averages the 3 YM voices. Use "ST table" or "Math model" +for accurate sound's emulation. +
++ You can select to record a piece of sound here. + Use the button to choose a file. + The file name extension that you use (.WAV or .YM) determines in which format + the sound is recorded in. The button + is a toggle so you will need to return to the GUI to switch sound recording off + again (or to use the keyboard shortcut for that). +
+ + +The Devices Dialog
+ +
+Check the first checkmark to enable printer support. +See the Emulated printer section for +details.
+ +As Hatari currently only supports printing to file, click on to select the file to print to. You can +enter a new filename as well.
+Check the second checkmark to enable RS232 support. +The RS232 device is configured according to the settings of +the emulated RS232 of the Atari ST. This means Hatari will +automatically use baudrate and handshaking as configured for the +emulated ST.
+Click on to select suitable +device files for serial input and output. On Linux a good choice is +/dev/ttyS0 or /dev/ttyS1. +
+Check the third checkmark to enable MIDI support. +Click on to select a suitable +MIDI device files for MIDI input and output.
+midi-linux.txt file explains how to +select the correct MIDI device file, how to set up software sound +synthetizing on Linux (using Alsa) if your sound card/driver doesn't +support MIDI, and how to set up MIDI networking e.g. between multiple +Hatari instances. +
+ + +Keyboard shortcuts for the SDL GUI
+ +There are multiple ways to interact with the SDL GUI.
+ +TAB and cursor keys change focus between UI elements. Additionally +Home key moves focus to first item, End key to last one. Initially +focus is on default UI element, but focus changes are remembered +between dialog invocations. Enter and Space invoke focused item. UI +elements with underlined characters can be invoked directly with Alt + +key with that character. Alt + arrow keys will act on arrow +buttons.
+ +Most importantly:
+-
+
- Options GUI main view: Enter accepts configuration, ESC +cancels it. +
- Options GUI dialogs: Enter (or End+Enter if focus was moved) +returns back to main view. +
- Fileselector: Page up and down keys scroll the file list. +Enter on focused file name selects it. Enter on OK button accepts +the selected file. ESC cancels the dialog/selection. +
- Alert dialogs: Enter accepts and ESC cancels the dialog. +
Keyboard shortcuts during emulation
+ +While the emulator is running, you can activate or toggle various +features via Hatari keyboard shortcuts. Below are listed the default +shortcut key bindings:
+| Option | -Purpose | +Shortcut | +Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| -h (--help) | -prints command line options and terminates | +ALTGR+a | +record animation |
| -v (--version) | -prints version information and terminates | +ALTGR+g | +grab a screenshot |
| -m (--mono) | -starts the emulated Atari ST in monochrome -resolution | +ALTGR+i | +boss key: leave full screen mode, pause Hatari + and iconify its window |
| -f (--fullscreen) | -tries to use a fullscreen mode | +ALTGR+m | +(un-)lock the mouse into the window |
| -j (--joystick) | -activates joystick emulation via cursor keys | +ALTGR+r | +(warm) reset the ST |
| --nosound | -disables sound (makes emulation faster) | +ALTGR+c | +coldreset the ST (same as the original power switch) |
| --frameskip | -drops every second frame (accelerates -emulation) | +ALTGR+d | +open dialog to select/change disk A |
| -D (--debug) | -activates the simple builtin debugger | +ALTGR+s | +enable/disable sound |
| -d <dir> (--harddrive <dir>) | -emulates <dir> as a hard disk | +ALTGR+q | +quit the emulator |
| --hdimage <imagefile> | -emulate hard disk with an image file | +ALTGR+x | +toggle normal speed/fast forward |
| --tos <imagefile> | -specify TOS ROM image to use | -||
| --memsize x | -set amount of emulated RAM - x=0 for 512K, x=1,x=2 or x=4 for 1,2 or 4 MB |
+ ALTGR+y | +enable/disable sound recording |
| --cpulevel x | -specify CPU (680x0) to use (TOS 2.06 only!!) | +ALTGR+k | +save memory snapshot |
| --compatible | -use a more compatible but slower 68000 CPU mode | +ALTGR+l | +load memory snapshot |
| --blitter | -enable blitter emulation | +ALTGR+j | +toggle joystick emulation via cursor keys + on/off between ports 0 and 1 |
| --vdi | -use extended VDI resolution | -
Using the emulated system
-Once you've started Hatari succesfully, you can use the emulator as -an allmost complete Atari ST computer system.
- -The GUI
- -General usage
-Press F12 to enter the GUI. Navigate it with the mouse. -The GUI is rather self explanatory.
-Click "Okay" to go back to the emulated ST. All checked options will be applied.
-Check the "Reset ST" option if you want the emulated ST to perform a soft reset.
-Click "Quit" to terminate Hatari and return to the host OS.
-Click "Cancel" to abandon any changes made.
- -The System Dialog
-Check the CPU type to use here, enable prefetch mode and if the Blitter should be active.
-For best Atari ST compatibility choose plain 68000 here.
-NOTE: These parameters are sensitive to the emulated ST and it is strongly recommended to -reset the emulated ST after changing these options.
- -The Floppy Disk Dialog
-Use this dialog to choose which disks should be emulated in the disk drives.
-You can use most standard Atari ST disk image files. See the chapter "Floppy disk images" -for details.
-Click on the button "Browse" next to the A: and B: option to go to the fileselector.
-You can specify a default directory where Hatari will start to browse the filesystem.
-Check the "Auto insert B" option if you want Hatari to be smart and insert the second disk -of a two disk game automatically. This option will insert the second disk in drive B and some -games may not be able to find the disks there. In that rare case you will need to insert the -second disk manually when prompted.
-You can select a harddrive image for harddrive emulation via image file here or you may select -a directory of your local filesystem to be emulated as the ST's harddrive.
-Check "Boot from HD" if you want Hatari to execute the AUTO folder on the harddrive. -This option is checked by default if you specify a harddrive image or a directory via the command line.
- -The Memory Dialog
-You can select the amount of RAM for the emulated ST here.
-Note: This option is critical and you are strongly advised to reset the emulated ST -when changing this option.
- -The TOS/GEM Dialog
-Here you can select the TOS image to use. Click on "Browse" to select it via the fileselector.
-In the GEM setup you can select a larger resolution for GEM conformant apps. Select resolution -and colour depth. Almost all games and demos will not work in one of these resolutions.
-Note: These options are critical and you are strongly advised to reset the emulated ST -when changing one of these option.
- -The Joystick Dialog
-Here you can select which joystick you want to emulate via the cursor keys.
-Joystick 1 is the normal ST joystick port and 99.9% of all ST games use this port, Joystick 0 -emulates a joystick plugged into the ST mouse port allowing you to play 2 player games.
-If no joystick is checked here, joystick emulation is done via a connected PC joystick.
-See the chapter "Emulated Joystick" for details.
- -The Screen Dialog
-Here you control the video output of the emulated ST.
-Check "Fullscreen" to run Hatari fullscreen, default is windowed.
-Check "Interlace" if you wish to have that old TV feeling in Hatari. Every second line will be black. -This will only work in ST-MEDIUM or ST-LOW in scaled up resolutions.
-Check "Frame Skip" to speed Hatari up if emulation is too slow. This will only draw every second ST frame -instead of the default of drawing every ST frame. Uncheck if you have a fast PC.
-Check "Use Borders" if you wish to have the borders around the ST screen.
-"Force 8Bpp" will force SDL to use an 8bit video mode. You don't need this for modern video cards.
-You can select which sort of monitor to use. Check "Color" for games and demos. If you check "Mono" here, -Hatari will emulate the good old SM124 and will not allow you to switch to color modes from the running ST. -This toggle acts like a monitor switch with a color and monochrome monitor connected.
-"ST-Low mode" will control if Hatari renders ST-LOW to a 320x200 or 640x400 PC display (with borders turned off) or 384x267 or 768x534. -Basically select this to toggle between a small or a large window.
-Click "Capture Screen" to create a screenshot in .BMP format to the current working directory or click "Record Animation" -to record a little movie. -
- -The Keyboard Dialog
-Here you can select the keyboard mapping to use.
-Two different mappings called "Symbolic" and "Scancode" are predefined.
-You can also load a custom keymapping file here if you wish. Please note that selecting to use a custom keyboard mapping will -use the "symbolic" mapping for all keys not defined by your map file. See the supplied example mapfile on how to build your -own keyboard mapping.
- -The Sound Dialog
-Here you control the sound subsystem.
-Check if you want emulated sound at all. Emulation is faster if sound emulation is turned off.
-3 frequencies from low to high quality are available. Experiment a little bit to find out which fits best for your setup. -Medium quality will work ok in most cases.
-You can select to record a piece of sound here. Check which format to use and click the button. It is a toggle button so -you will need to return to the GUI to switch sound recording off again.
- - -Keyboard shortcuts
-While the emulator is running, you can activate or toggle various -features via the following keyboard shortcuts.
- -| Shortcut | -Purpose | +ALTGR+F1 | +switch joystick type on joy port 0 |
| ALTGR+g | -grabs a screenshot | +ALTGR+F2 | +switch joystick type on joy port 1 |
| ALTGR+j | -activates joystick emulation via cursor keys | +ALTGR+F3 | +switch joystick type for joypad A |
| ALTGR+m | -(un-)locks the mouse into the window | +ALTGR+F4 | +switch joystick type for joypad B |
| ALTGR+r | -reset the ST | +ALTGR+f or F11 | +toggle between fullscreen and windowed mode |
| ALTGR+c | -coldreset the ST (same as the original power switch) | +ALTGR+o or F12 | +activate the options GUI |
| ALTGR+q | -quit the emulator | +PAUSE | +pause emulation |
| F11 | -toggles fullscreen and windowed mode | -||
| F12 | -activate the GUI | -||
| PAUSE | -will go to the debugger if it was activated at compile time | +AltGr+PAUSE | +invoke the internal Hatari debugger |
You can change the key bindings from the Hatari configuration file. +See keymap-sample.txt file for instructions.
+ +Emulated Atari ST keyboard
+All other keys on the keyboard act as the normal Atari ST keys so pressing SPACE on your PC will result in an emulated press of the SPACE key on the ST. The following keys have special meanings:
-| Key | -Meaning | +Key | +Meaning | +
|---|---|---|---|
| Alt | +will act as the ST's ALTERNATE key | +||
| left CTRL | +will act as the ST's CONTROL key | ||
| Alt | -will act as the ST's ALTERNATE key | +Print Screen | +will emulate the ST's HELP key |
| left CTRL | -will act as the ST's CONTROL key | +Scroll Lock | +will emulate the ST's UNDO key |
| Page Up | -will emulate the ST's HELP key | +Page Up | +will emulate the ST's ( key in the keypad |
| Page Down | -will emulate the ST's UNDO key | +Page Down | +will emulate the ST's ) in the keypad |
ALTGR will act as ALTERNATE as well as long as you do not press it -together with a Hatari hotkey combination.
-The right CTRL key is used as the fire button of the emulated -joystick when you turn on joystick emulation via keyboard.
-The cursor keys will act as the cursor keys on the Atari ST as long as joystick emulation -via keyboard has been turned off.
+If joystick emulation via keyboard is enabled, by default cursor keys +are used for the directions and right CTRL key +as the fire button. Otherwise they act as corresponding keys of the emulated +Atari ST.
+ +NOTE: Problems with simultenous keypresses most likely aren't an +issue in Hatari as many modern keyboards report/support only three +simultenous key presses (or even just two depending on which keys +are in question). Expensive gaming keyboards support more.
+Emulated mouse
+For obvious reasons your PC mouse will act as the emulated Atari ST mouse. In fullscreen mode it will act as expected, directly controlling the ST mouse pointer.
-However it is a little bit different in windowed mode. To make the -mouse work there as expected you need to grab it first or lock it into -the Hatari window. Do this by pressing the ALTGR+m hotkey combination. -Press it again to go back to normal mouse behaviour which allows you to -work in other X11 windows while Hatari is up and running.
+However it is a little bit different in windowed mode as +mouse cursor positions between host and emulated Atari can get +out of sync. This can be worked around by constraining the mouse +to the Hatari window. Pressing the ALTGR+m +hotkey combination or starting Hatari with the +--grab command line option +grabs the mouse i.e. locks its movements to the Hatari window. +Press the shortcut key (again) to go back to normal mouse behaviour +which allows you to move mouse outside outside the Hatari window while +Hatari is up and running. Note: pausing the emulation will also +(temporarily) release the mouse grab.
+Middle button click emulates double click, which is very useful +in Fast Forward mode (where normal double clicking is nearly +impossible).
+Mouse scrollwheel will act as cursor up and down keys.
Emulated joystick
+The Atari ST joysticks are emulated ofcourse allowing you to play your favourite games with Hatari.
The default mode is to use a connected PC joystick. You can use any -joystick that is supported by your kernel. If your joystick works with -other applications, it will likely work with Hatari as well. Make sure +joystick that is supported by your kernel / SDL library. If your joystick works +with other applications, it will likely work with Hatari as well. Make sure it is calibrated and then off you go. Move the stick to point into the desired direction. Please note that Hatari will not detect analogue movement as the Atari ST only had digital joysticks. The first -firebutton will act as the normal firebutton on the Atari ST while the second -firebutton will emulate a keypress of the SPACE key on the ST as many ST -games utilitze the SPACE bar for secondary game functions. (Xenon for example)
+firebutton will act as the normal firebutton on the Atari ST while the +second +firebutton will emulate a keypress of the SPACE +key on the ST as many ST +games utilize the SPACE bar for secondary game functions. (Xenon for +example)If you do not have a PC joystick or joypad, then you do not need to desperate. You can emulate one of the two Atari ST joysticks via the cursor keys. Just activate it in the GUI. Then the cursor keys will act as the joystick directions, the right CTRL key will act as the firebutton. You can still use the cursor keys as the ST's -cursorkeys in this mode as long as you press SHIFT along with the cursorkeys.
+cursorkeys in this mode as long as you press SHIFT +along with the cursorkeys. You can also configure these keys from the +joystick options. + +Emulated video
+ +Hatari emulates all screen modes of the original machine.
++ST/STE shifter overscan effects are emulated, but due to the fact +that these effects are achieved by using quirks and glitches in the +original chips to do things beyond their specification, emulation is +a bit tricky for these effects. As a result, some demos using these +techniques might not be displayed correctly in Hatari, known ones are +listed in the compatibility.html file. +
+Beside that you can setup extended VDI modes. These only work with +GEM-compliant applications and they are equal to fitting a videocard +into your Mega ST.
+Make sure to disable extended VDI modes for playing games as 99% of +all ST games will not be able to make use of higher resolutions.
+ +Emulated printer
+ +Due to the fact that printer handling is different on Atari and +current machines, emulation of the printer is achieved by writing all +printer output to a file.
+The file will contain a sequence of data, the same that would appear +on the data pins of the Atari ST printer port. +That would include control characters and commands for graphic +printing. Clicking "Print desktop" on the GEM desktop would result +in a messy data dump in the printer output.
+Printer emulation works best for plain text files or programs that +do not format the output for a specific printer. +The file contents can be used with your favourite text editor for +further processing and printing to a real printer.
+To get real direct printing out of Hatari you may set up a suitable
+(e.g. PostScript) GDOS or NVDI printer driver on the emulated Atari and
+set your printer device file as Hatari's printer output.
+NOTE: If the driver doesn't match or there's some other problem,
+this can cause your printer to print out hundreds of pages of garbage.
Emulated RS232
+ +Serial communications in Hatari is designed to directly use a serial +port on your PC.
+Communications parameters are set automatically upon the settings of +the emulated ST. This means all you do is to set +the communication parameters like baudrate from your ST communications +software. Hatari will do the rest and handle +the serial input and output for you.
+ +Floppy disk images
-Floppy disk images
Hatari does not use floppy disks directly but disk images due to differences between the floppy disk controllers of the ST and the PC. -Two types of disk images are currently supported: The raw "ST" type and -the "MSA" (Magic-Shadow-Archiver) type.
+Several types of disk images are currently supported : + + +-
+
- +the raw "ST" type + +
- +the similar "DIM" type (not widely used) + +
- +the compressed "MSA" (Magic-Shadow-Archiver) type + +
- +the "STX" type that can store low level disk layout. This format is mainly +used to dump original games with their protection. Those images are created +on a real ST using pasti.prg + +
- +the "IPF", "RAW" and "CTR" types require the caps library. Similar to STX, they +record disk layout, but at a much precise level by storing MFM data. Most of +these dumps are made with the Kryoflux board + +
The raw type (file suffix should be "*.st") is simply a sector by sector image of a real floppy disk. You can easily create such an image -with the dd program which should normally be pre-installed on every -Unix-like system. Simply type something like dd if=/dev/fd0 of=myimage.st to create a disk image. Of course you need access to +with the dd program which should +normally be pre-installed on every +Unix-like system. Simply type something like dd +if=/dev/fd0 of=myimage.st to create a disk image. Of course you +need access to /dev/fd0, and depending on your system and the type of floppy disk you might have to use another device name here (for example I use -/dev/fd0u720 for 720kB disks). However, if the disk is copy-protected or +/dev/fd0u720 for 720kB disks). However, if the disk is copy-protected +or doesn't use a MSDOS compatible file system, this might fail. So be very -careful if you're not sure about the disk format.
-The other possibility is to image the disk on a real Atari ST. There +careful if you are not sure about the disk format.
+The other possibility is to image the disk on a real Atari ST. +For non-protected disk, there are programs like the Magic Shadow Archiver for this task. Hatari -supports this slightly compressed MSA disk images, too. Note that Hatari -only supports the "old" MSA format, there are some Magic Shadow Archiver +supports this slightly compressed MSA disk images, too. Note that +Hatari +only supports the "old" MSA format, there are some Magic Shadow +Archiver clones (like Jay-MSA) that create better compressed but -Hatari-incompatible disk images.
-While *.ST and *.MSA are more or less the "standard" types of Atari -disk images, you might sometimes also find DIM or ADF images on the -internet. These currently do not work with Hatari. But since DIM images -are nearly the same as the raw ST images (they only have an additional -32 byte header) you can easily transform the DIM images into ST images -by stripping the header from the files. For example try something like: -dd if=input.dim of=output.st bs=32 skip=1
+Hatari-incompatible disk images. However, if you have got such a MSA +disk and want to use it with Hatari, you can still run the +corresponding +MSA program within Hatari to extract the incompatible disk image to a +normal floppy disk image. +
+For protected disk, the most widely used method is to run pasti.prg on
+a real Atari ST and get a .STX image.
+
+For more complex protections or altered disk, one can use *.IPF or *.CTR
+which include tools to check MFM data and possible problems when dumping a disk.
+
While *.ST, *.MSA and *.STX are more or less the "standard" types of Atari +disk images, you might sometimes also find STT or ADF images on the +internet. These currently do not work with Hatari.
+Hatari can now also utilize *.DIM images just as *.ST ones without +any problems. +Note that DIM images are nearly the same as the raw ST images +(they only have an additional 32 bytes header), so you can easily +transform +the DIM images into ST images by stripping the header from the files. +For example try something like: +dd if=input.dim of=output.st bs=32 skip=1 +
If you've got a disk image that has been created with the old ST emulator PaCifiST (for DOS) or with early versions of the program Makedisk, and the disk image does not work with Hatari, then the disk -probably suffers from the "PaCifiST bootsector bug" (Hatari will print a +probably suffers from the "PaCifiST bootsector bug" (Hatari will +display a warning message then). In this case, the bootsector of the disk contains some illegal data, so that the disk even does not work on a real ST any more. However, if it is a .ST and not a .MSA disk, you can -easily fix it by using a hex-editor to change the byte at offset $D (13) +easily fix it by using a hex-editor to change the byte at offset $D +(13) from 0 to 1 (don't forget to backup your disk image first, since you can also easily destroy your disk image when changing a wrong byte there). If the disk contains a bootsector program, you probably have to adjust the boot sector check sum, too (it can be found at offset $1FE + $1FF).
-Hatari supports zipped disk images so you can archive your disk images into zip archives. -You can also directly run the zip archives you may download from the net as long as the archive contains a -disk image in .ST or .MSA format.
-Note: Hatari does not save disk images back to zipfiles so your highscores and savegames are lost if you -loaded the game from a zipped disk image.
+Hatari supports disk images that are compressed with (Pk-)ZIP +(file suffix must be ".zip") or GZip (file suffix must be ".st.gz" or +".msa.gz"), so you can archive your disk images into zip archives. +You can also directly run the zip archives you may download from the +net as long as the archive contains a disk image in .ST or .MSA format.
+Note: Hatari does not save disk images back to *.ZIP files +so +your highscores and savegames are lost if you load the game from such +a zipped disk image.
+Hard disk support
-Hatari supports two ways of emulating a ST hard drive: The low-level -ACSI hard disk emulation and a GEMDOS based drive emulation.
-To use the ACSI hard disk emulation, you need a hard disk image file -with a pre-installed HD driver in it. So either try to image your old ST -hard disk or grab one from the internet. There is a HD image on the -Hatari web page for download. Perhaps we'll also provide a tool for -creating HD images one day.
-With the GEMDOS based drive emulation, you can easily "mount" a -folder from the host file system to a drive of the emulated Atari. To -use the GEMDOS based drive emulation, you should use a folder on your -hard disk that only contains files and folders with valid TOS filenames. -That means that all files/folders should be written in capital letters -and their length mustn't exceed the 8+3 file name length limit. If you -don't want to rename all files to get capital letters, it is also -possible to store that folder on a FAT filesystem since those -filesystems are case-insensitive.
-GEMDOS drive emulation is an easy way to share files between the -host system and the emulated Atari, but it is known to be incomplete and -a little bit unstable, especially if you use it together with the ACSI -hard disk emulation. So if your programs complain that they could not -find/read/write files on the GEMDOS HD drive, you should try to copy -them to a floppy disk image or a real hard disk image!
-Note that changing the HD-image or the GEMDOS HD-folder will reset -the emulated Atari since it is not possible to switch the hard disk -while the emulator is running.
-May the fun without the price to be with you ;-) !
+ ++Hatari supports three ways of emulating Atari hard drives: The +low-level ACSI and IDE hard drive emulation and a GEMDOS based HD +emulation. In most cases the GEMDOS HD emulation is best as it allows +exchanging files easily between the emulated and the host environment. +
++Please note that changing the HD-image or the GEMDOS HD-folder will reset +the emulated Atari since it is not possible to switch the hard drive +while the emulator is running. +
++On a 32-bit host system, the size of a hard disk image is limited to 2 GB. +On 64-bit host systems, bigger images might be possible but the support +for bigger images is not tested very well yet. +
++The maximum size of partitions inside the hard disk (images) depends on the +TOS version. TOS 1.00 and 1.02 support up to 256 MB, TOS 1.04 to 3.06 up to +512 MB and TOS 4.0x supports up to 1 GB partitions. +
++NOTE: you need to be careful when mounting device files. Depending on +the system setup (e.g. udev settings) partitions on memory cards etc. +can be mounted automatically. When Hatari is started and uses a device +file with partitions that are already mounted, data can be destroyed +(when several programs independently write to the same device). +Disable your desktop automount, or remember to manually unmount +devices before giving them to Hatari. +
+ + +GEMDOS based hard drive emulation
++With the GEMDOS HD emulation, you can easily "mount" a folder from the +host file system to a drive of the emulated Atari. +
++If you provide Hatari a directory containing only single letter (C-Z) +subdirectories, each of these subdirectories will be treated as a +separate partition, otherwise the given directory itself will be +assigned to drive "C:". In the multiple partition case, the letters +used as the subdirectory names will determine to which +drives/partitions they're assigned. For example following +directory setup: +
++partitions/ + + C/ + + D/ ++
+That is given to Hatari as "hatari -d partitions", will give you +GEMDOS HD emulated C: and D: drives. +
++GEMDOS HD emulation is an easy way to share files between the +host system and the emulated Atari, but there are also some known +limitations which are due to the way the GEMDOS HD emulation is +implemented: +
+-
+
- Directory entries are returned in a (case-insensitively) sorted +order, for consistency. E.g. moving files to a different directory and +back (without changing their names) like AUTOSORT does, doesn't change +that order. You need to rename the files. +
- Names which aren't valid TOS directory or file names, are converted +to a valid format. If there are multiple files which converted +names are identical in TOS-format, you see only one of those. +
- It is not possible to use a cartridge image at the same time +with the GEMDOS HD emulation (Hatari has its own cartridge code +that is used for GEMDOS HD emulation). +
- Anything that installs its own GEMDOS handler, like MiNT, doesn't work +with the GEMDOS HD emulation. Such things need to be run from a real +hard disk image. +
- GEMDOS HD C: drive conflicts with the ACSI and IDE hard drives. +If you want to use GEMDOS HD directory and ACSI/IDE disk images together, +either use the GEMDOS HD option for skipping ACSI & IDE partitions, or +use a multiple partition GEMDOS HD emulation setup and select the partition +subdirectories (see above) so that they don't conflict with the ACSI/IDE +partitions (drive letters). With HD Driver you have also another option, +see Using HD Driver +with GEMDOS HD partitions. +
- The GEMDOS HD emulation does not work (very well) with TOS +1.00 and 1.02. Use at least TOS 1.04 if you want the GEMDOS HD +emulation to work properly. +
+If your programs complain that they could not find/read/write +files on the GEMDOS emulated drive, you can copy and use them +from a floppy disk image or a real hard disk image instead. +
+ + +ACSI & IDE hard drive emulation with EmuTOS
+ ++Accessing HD image files is easiest with EmuTOS. It supports both +ASCI and IDE interfaces, regardless of emulated machine type, and +understands DOS partition tables without additional drivers. +atari-hd-image.sh script coming +with Hatari can be used to create such image files and to copy +initial data to them. +
++If you have an hard drive (image) with Atari format partition table, +that should already have hard disk driver on it and work fine. +Partitioning/formatting them is the problem. Creating such images +from scratch is described in following sections. +
+ + +ACSI hard drive emulation
++To use the ACSI hard drive emulation, you need a hard disk image file +with a pre-installed HD driver in it. You can try to get an image of +your old ST hard disk or grab one from the internet (e.g. from the +Hatari website). +Please note that the size of ACSI hard drive is normally limited to 1 GB +due to some addressing constraints of the ACSI bus. Bigger disks were only +possible with certain host adapters – this behaviour is emulated by +Hatari, too, but you need a hard disk driver that supports these extensions. +
++To create a new ACSI hard disk image, you can start with an empty +image that you have created for example with the following command: +dd if=/dev/zero of=hd.img bs=512 count=xxx +(where 'xxx' is size in 512 byte blocks). Copy the complete AHDI 5.0 +package to a floppy disk image, then boot Hatari with this floppy disk +image and the fresh hard disk image like this: +--acsi hd.img ahdi.st. +Then start HDX.PRG from the floppy disk and format + partition the hard +disk image with it. +
++Formatting and partitioning works currently only with AHDI 5, but you +can install the AHDI 6 driver to the hard disk after it's formatted. +Restart the emulated system, run AHDI.PRG from the floppy disk to access +the hard disk image from the emulated Atari and then run HINSTALL.PRG. +After installing the hard disk driver to the fresh HD image with +HINSTALL.PRG, you can boot directly from the hard disk image. +
++HD Driver (v9) partitioning is also compatible with Hatari ACSI +emulation. CBHD and ICDPro AdSCSI drivers work on images which have +been partitioned elsewhere. +
+ + +IDE hard drive emulation
++
+As the IDE disk format (little endian) differs from the ACSI disk format +(big endian), you need separate disk images for them. Hatari doesn't +currently support partitioning IDE disks with AHDI, but you can do it with +Cecile. +
++First create an empty image file with the size of your choice with: +dd if=/dev/zero of=hd.img bs=1k count=xxx. +Then get the Cecile hard disk driver from +http://centek.free.fr/atari/softs/s_cecile.htm +and put it on a floppy disk image (e.g. to one named "cecile.st" using: +zip2st.sh cecile.zip). +
++Run Hatari with +hatari --machine falcon --tos tos404.rom +--ide-master hd.img cecile.st, switch to larger color resolution +and warm up your French language skills. Then start the Cecile hard +disk driver CECILE.PRG and run CC_TOOLS.APP to partition your hard +disk image. Click the "Partition" button, select "Hatari IDE disk" and set +suitable partition size with the arrows (below type field). Then click +"Valider". +
++If you only want to use your HD image in Falcon mode, you can install +the Cecile hard disk driver to the image from the Cecile CC_TOOLS.APP: +Click the "Installer" button and save the Cecile driver to the +1st partition on "Hatari IDE disk". If you want to also use your HD +image in ST/STE mode, you need to get and install either HD Driver or +AHDI 6 driver on it instead (see ASCI +hard drive emulation section). +
++Then you can boot from your hard disk image by simply specifying it +with the --ide-master parameter. +
+ + +Moving files to/from hard disk images
+ +Moving files to and from Atari hard disk images can be done +either through GEMDOS HD partitions (host directories mounted inside +Hatari emulation) or accessing the images directly on the host +(outside the emulation). Both have their own limitations.
+ +If it's fine for the IDE/ACSI partitions to be first, you can +either use ACSI/IDE partition skip option, or a multipartition GEMDOS +HD setup as described in above sections. +
+ +If you want to boot from a GEMDOS HD partition i.e. such to be +before hard disk image partitions, and still to be able to access all +the IDE/ACSI partitions, you need to use HD Driver. Note: this is the +preferred method with EmuTOS (v0.9.x), because it doesn't run/use +driver installed to the IDE/ACSI image directly although its own +partition table/type support is very limited.
+ +Using HD Driver with GEMDOS partitions
+ +Uwe Seimet's HD +Driver works fine with both the Hatari GEMDOS HD partitions and normal +hard disk images. +
+ +First copy the HDDRIVER.PRG binary into your GEMDOS HD emulation +directory AUTO folder. Then start the HDDRUTIL.APP configuration utility, +locate HDDRIVER.PRG, open the +"Devices +and Partitions" dialog and select the "Preserve Existing Partitions" +option. Then you can just start Hatari with your hard disk image and +this GEMDOS HD directory, for example like this: +"hatari --harddrive gemdos-hd/ --ide-master +ide-hd.image".
+ +If you're using +the demo version +of HD Driver, you can write files only to the C: partition, i.e. in +above case only copy files from the hard disk image partition to the +GEMDOS HD partition (with some write slowndowns included into the demo +version). If you want to copy files to the hard disk image with +the demo version of the HD Driver, you need to set the hard disk +image as drive C:.
+ +To accomplish this, set the GEMDOS HD partitions to be from D: forward, +i.e. have a directory which contains only single letter subdirectories, +starting from "D" like in "mkdir gemdos-hd; +mkdir gemdos-hd/D". Then give Hatari (as the last parameter) +a boot floppy image containing the demo version of HDDRIVER.PRG in +its AUTO folder, like this: "hatari +--ide-master ide-hd.image --harddrive gemdos-hd/ hd-driver-floppy.st". +You can convert HD Driver ZIP package to floppy image with the +zip2st utility.
+ + +Accessing HDD image partitions outside of Hatari
+ ++If you want to access the hard disk image partitions also outside +the emulation, the disk image needs to have a DOS partition table. +The atari-hd-image script included +with Hatari can be used to create such an image. +
++Inside the Hatari emulator, EmuTOS can access partition(s) on these +kind of images directly without any driver software. Of the Atari HD +drivers mentioned above, Centek's Cecile and Uwe Seimet's HD Driver +(demo) work fine with these partitions. E.g. AHDI and CBHD don't. +Cecile works only with TT or Falcon. +
++To summarise; if EmuTOS is enough, use that. Otherwise, if you want to +use TT or Falcon emulation, use Cecile (or full HD Driver version if +you have it), otherwise use HD Driver (demo). +
++To access the content of the partitions on Linux host, there are two +possibilities: + +
Using Mtools
++For this you need to add an entry for the hard disk +image to your ~/.mtoolsrc and +specify which partition you want to access from the image. For +an image created with the above mentioned script, the line in +the configuration file should look something like this: +
++MTOOLS_NO_VFAT=1 +drive c: file="/home/user/hatari/hd.img" partition=1 ++
+Note that Mtools is instructed to use FAT compatibility mode because +EmuTOS cannot deal properly with VFAT file information. If you don't +want this setting for all your Mtools drives, you can set it also via +the environment like this ("::" refers to the drive image given with +the "-i" option): +
++MTOOLS_NO_VFAT=1 mcopy -spmv -i hd.img files/* :: ++ +
Using a loopback device
++This is recommended even by Mtools documentation, but it's less +convenient as it requires root rights. First you need to "loop" +mount the image: +
+
+$ su
+# image="hd.img"; mountdir="hd"
+# start=$(parted $image unit s print | awk '/ 1 /{print $2}' | tr -d s)
+# losetup -f $image -o $((512*$start))
+# loop=$(losetup -a | tail -1 | cut -d: -f1)
+# mkdir -p $mountdir
+# mount -t msdos $loop $mountdir
+
++This uses parted to find out the first +partition offset in sectors and then tells losetup +to bind the first free loop device to a corresponding offset from +the hd.img image. +mount is then used to mount the file system +from the loop device on top of the "hd" directory. +
++After you've copied the relevant files to the "hd" directory, you need +unmount the file system and remove the loop device binding before using +the disk image from Hatari: +
++# umount $mountdir +# losetup -d $loop ++ + +
The debugger
+ ++Hatari has a built-in debugging interface which can be used for +analyzing code that runs in the emulated system. +
+ ++On Unix (Linux / OSX) debugger uses Hatari's parent console window, so +make sure you run Hatari from the command line when you want to use +the debugger. On Windows you need to use "-W" option to get console +window. You can add an icon to your desktop that does it. On Linux +it should do something like this (replace "xterm" with your favorite +terminal program): +
++xterm -T "Hatari debug window" -e hatari ++ +
+To run debugger commands at Hatari startup, one can use the "--parse +<file>" command line option. This is useful e.g. for debugging +TOS or some demo startup code, or if you always want to use some +specific debugger setup (breakpoints etc). +
+ + +Invoking the debugger
+ ++You can invoke the debugger manually by pressing the +AltGr + Pause key combination. +
+ ++With the "-D" command line option, you can toggle whether m68k +exceptions will also invoke the debugger. Which exceptions cause +this, can be controlled with the "--debug-except" option. +
+ ++Giving "-D" option at Hatari startup is not advised because TOS HW +checks generate some exceptions at every TOS boot. It's better to +toggle exception catching later from the debugger with the "setopt -D" +command. +
+ ++Alternatively, you can give "--debug-except" option "autostart" flag +(e.g. "--debug-except all,autostart"). This will enable catching of +(specified) exceptions after TOS boot, when Atari program given on +Hatari command line is autostarted. +
+ + +General debugger use
+ ++At the debugger prompt, type "help" to get a list of all +the available commands and their shortcuts: +
++Generic commands: + cd ( ) : change directory + evaluate ( e) : evaluate an expression + help ( h) : print help + history (hi) : show last CPU & DSP PC values & executed instructions + info ( i) : show machine/OS information + lock ( ) : specify information to show on entering the debugger + logfile ( f) : open or close log file + parse ( p) : get debugger commands from file + setopt ( o) : set Hatari command line and debugger options + stateload ( ) : restore emulation state + statesave ( ) : save emulation state + trace ( t) : select Hatari tracing settings + quit ( q) : quit emulator + +CPU commands: + address ( a) : set CPU PC address breakpoints + breakpoint ( b) : set/remove/list conditional CPU breakpoints + disasm ( d) : disassemble from PC, or given address + profile ( ) : profile CPU code + cpureg ( r) : dump register values or set register to value + memdump ( m) : dump memory + memwrite ( w) : write bytes to memory + loadbin ( l) : load a file into memory + savebin ( ) : save memory to a file + symbols ( ) : load CPU symbols & their addresses + step ( s) : single-step CPU + next ( n) : step CPU, proceeding through subroutine calls + cont ( c) : continue emulation / CPU single-stepping + +DSP commands: + dspaddress (da) : set DSP PC address breakpoints + dspbreak (db) : set/remove/list conditional DSP breakpoints + dspdisasm (dd) : disassemble DSP code + dspmemdump (dm) : dump DSP memory + dspsymbols ( ) : load DSP symbols & their addresses + dspprofile (dp) : profile DSP code + dspreg (dr) : read/write DSP registers + dspstep (ds) : single-step DSP + dspnext (dn) : step DSP, proceeding through subroutine calls + dspcont (dc) : continue emulation / DSP single-stepping ++ + +
Entering arguments to debugger commands
+ ++After writing (with TAB completion) one of the above command names, +pressing TAB will (for most commands) show all the available subcommands. +
+ ++If you want to give numbers in other number bases +than the default/selected one, they need to be prefixed with a +character indicating this. For decimals this prefix is "#" (#15), +for hexadecimals "$" ($F), and for binary values it's "%" (%1111). +
+ ++By default debugger expects all numbers without a prefix to be +decimals, but you can change the default number base with the "setopt" +command, just give it the desired default number base (bin/dec/hex). +When using the hexadecimal number base, remember still to prefix +hexadecimal numbers with '$' if they could be confused with register +names (a0-7, d0-7)! Otherwise results from expressions and +conditional breakpoints can be unexpected. +
+ + +Calculations and immediate evaluation
+ ++Instead of a number, you can also use an arithmetic expression, by +surrounding it with quotes (""). An expression can contain +calculations with CPU and DSP register, symbol and Hatari variable +values in addition to numbers. For example to give a sum of A0 and +D0 register values to a command, use "a0+d0". +
+ ++Within arithmetic expressions parenthesis are used both to change +the order of precendence and to indicate indirect addressing. +Unlike with conditional breakpoint expressions (explained below), you +cannot give size for the indirect addressing, a long value is always +read from the RAM address given within parenthesis. For example to +get a long value pointed by stack pointer + 2, use "(a7+2)". +
+ ++Values of arithmetic expressions are always evaluated before being +given to a command. Except for "evaluate" and "address" commands, +they always need to be marked with quotes (""). Besides arithmetics, +this can be used also to give symbol/register/variable values to +commands that don't otherwise interpret them. If command complains +that it didn't recognize e.g. a register name, just put it to quotes +and it will be "evaluated" before being given to the command. +
+ ++With command argument completion (see build +notes), result from the last "evaluate" command can be inserted +by typing '$' and pressing TAB. +
+ + +Inspecting emulation state
+ ++In the beginning, probably the most interesting commands are "m" and "d" +for dumping and disassembling memory regions. You can use "dm" and "dd" +commands to do the same for the DSP. +
++> help memdump +'memdump' or 'm' - dump memory +Usage: m [start address-[end address]] + dump memory at address or continue dump from previous address. ++
+> help disasm +'disasm' or 'd' - disassemble from PC, or given address +Usage: d [start address-[end address]] + If no address is given, this command disassembles from the last + position or from current PC if no last position is available. ++
+> disasm pc +$00aa6e : 2f08 move.l a0,-(sp) +$00aa70 : 0241 0fff andi.w #$fff,d1 +$00aa74 : 207c 00fe 78c0 movea.l #$fe78c0,a0 +$00aa7a : 2070 1000 movea.l (a0,d1.w),a0 +$00aa7e : 4ed0 jmp (a0) ++ +
+Both commands accept in addition to numeric addresses also register +and symbol names, like in above example. If you don't specify an +address, the commands continue showing from an address that comes +after the previously shown data. "disasm" command default address +will be reset to PC address every time you re-enter the debugger. +
+ ++Use "setopt --disasm help" if you want to set options controlling +the disassembly output. +
+ ++You can use the "info" command to see state of specific sets of HW +registers (e.g. "info videl") and Atari OS structures (e.g. "info gemdos"). +
+ + +Selecting what information is shown on entering the debugger
+ ++By using the "lock" command, you can ask Hatari to show specific +information whenever you enter the debugger / hit a breakpoint. For +example to see disassembly from current PC address, use "lock disasm". +
+ ++With the "regaddr" subcommand, you see disassembly or memory +dump of an address pointed by a given register ("lock regaddr disasm +a0"). Of the DSP registers, only Rx ones are valid for this +subcommand. +
+ ++"file" subcommand can be used to get (arbitrary number of) commands +parsed and executed from a given debugger input file whenever debugger +is entered. With this you can output any information you need: +
++lock file debugger.ini ++ +
+To disable showing of this extra information, use "lock default". +Without arguments "lock" command will show the available options +(like the "info" command does). +
+ + +Debug symbols
+ ++You can load debugging symbols to the debugger with the "symbols" +command (and with "dspsymbols" for DSP). These symbolic names can be +used in arithmetic expressions and conditional breakpoint expressions. +They also show up in the "disasm" command output and you can trace +calls to them with "trace cpu_symbols" (and DSP symbols with "trace +dsp_symbols"). +
+ + +For a program under GEMDOS HD emulation
+ ++If currently running program contains symbol table in DRI/GST format, +and it's started from GEMDOS HD emulated drive, its symbol names / +addresses are automatically loaded when debugger is entered, and +removed when program terminates.
+ ++Above happens only if there are no symbols loaded when the program +starts. If there are, you can load program symbol data manually with +the following command, after program has been loaded to the memory by +TOS (see setting breakpoint at program +startup): +
++symbols prg ++
+ +
+The options you need to add suitable symbol table to your programs, +depend on which toolchain you use to build it: +
+-
+
- Devpac: +
- "OPT D+,X+" +
- AHCC: +
- "-g", and "-l" option for local symbols, both for linking +
- GCC: +
- "-Wl,--traditional-format" option for linking, + and "-g" for compilation to get local symbols +
- VBCC: +
- "-g" (can only be used at linking phase), when VBCC + configuration file uses "-bataritos" option for + the linker +
You can view the generated symbols (and convert them to debugger +ASCII format) with tool installed with Hatari:
++$ gst2ascii -l -o program.tos > program.sym ++(Options -l and -o are used to exclude useless symbols from the output.) + + +
For a program on a (disk) image
+ ++If the program isn't run from a GEMDOS HD emulated drive, but from a +cartridge, floppy or HD image, you need to have the corresponding +program also as normal host file which location you can give to the +debugger: +
++symbols /path/to/the/program.tos ++ + +
ASCII debug symbol files
+ ++If Hatari complains that your program doesn't have DRI/GST format +symbol table, or its symbols are in some other format, and you +cannot re-compile it to have them, you have two options: +
+-
+
- Convert the symbols to ASCII format understood by the Hatari debugger. + Writing converters for other ASCII formats is easy, and Hatari already + contains covertors for DSP LOD files, nm + output for MiNT/a.out binaries and AHCC map files. +
- Create the ASCII symbols file by hand while you're debugging a program. +
ASCII symbols file format is following:
++e01034 T random +e01076 T kbdvbase +e0107e T supexec ++
+Where 'T' means text (code), 'D' means data and 'B' means BSS section +type of address. The hexadecimal address, address type letter and the +symbol name are separated by white space. Empty lines and lines +starting with '#' (comments) are ignored. +
+ ++Debugger will automatically "relocate" the symbol addresses when it +loads them from a program binary, but with ASCII symbol files you need +to give the relocation offset(s) separately, unless the symbol names +are for fixed adresses (like is the case e.g. with EmuTOS): +
++symbols program.sym TEXT DATA BSS ++
+If you're interested only about code symbols, you can leave DATA and +BSS offsets out (the values of the above virtual debugger variables +like TEXT come from the currently loaded program's basepage, they're +set after the program is loaded by TOS, see "info basepage" output). +
+ + +Breakpoints
+ ++There are two ways to specify breakpoints for Hatari. First, there are +the simple address breakpoints which trigger when the CPU (or DSP) +program counter hits a given address. Use "a" (or "da" for the DSP) +to create them, for example: +
++a $e01034 +a some_symbol ++ +
+Note that address breakpoints are just wrappers for conditional +breakpoints so you need to use "b" command to remove or list them. +
+ ++Then there are the conditional breakpoints which can handle much more +complex break condition expressions; they can track changes to +register and memory values with bitmasks, include multiple conditions +for triggering a breakpoint and so on. Use "b" (or "db" for the DSP) +to manage them. +
+ +Help explains the general syntax:
++> help b +'breakpoint' or 'b' - set/remove/list conditional CPU breakpoints +Usage: b <condition> [&& <condition> ...] [:<option>] | <index> | help | all + +Set breakpoint with given <conditions>, remove breakpoint with +given <index>, remove all breakpoints with 'all' or output +breakpoint condition syntax with 'help'. Without arguments, +lists currently active breakpoints. ++ +
+Unless you give breakpoint one of the pre-defined subcommands ('all', +'help'), index for a breakpoint to remove or no arguments (to list +breakpoints), the arguments are interpreted as a new breakpoint +definition. +
+ ++Each conditional breakpoint can have (currently up to 4) conditions +which are separated by "&&". All of the breakpoint's +conditions need to be true for a breakpoint to trigger. +
+ + +Breakpoint options
+ ++Normally when a breakpoint is triggered, emulation is stopped and you +get to the debugger. Breakpoint options can be used to affect what +happens when a breakpoint is triggered. These options are given after +the conditions and are prefixed with ':'. +
+ +-
+
- <count> +
- Break only on every <count> hit. For example, to stop
+on every other time PC is at given address, use:
+
+a $1234 :2 +
+
+
+ - once +
-
+Delete the breakpoint when it's hit i.e. trigger it only once. It may
+be useful if you just want to get a specific address. Or if you're on
+an instruction that jumps back to a start of the loop and you want to
+finish the loop, you could use:
+
+b pc > "pc" :once +continue +
+
+
+ - trace +
- +Continue emulation without stopping after printing the value that +triggered the breakpoint and doing other possible option actions. +This is most useful when investigating memory or register value +changes (explained below). + + +
- lock +
- +Show the same information on breakpoint hit as you see when entering +the debugger (see the "lock" command in +Inspecting emulation state +above). This enables also trace option as you would anyway see this +information if debugger would be entered. + + +
- file <file> +
- +Execute debugger commands from given <file> when this breakpoint +is hit. With this you have complete control over what information is +show when the debugger is hit, you can even chain breakpoints (as +explained in +Chaining breakpoints later on) +etc. Use this if "lock" option isn't enough or you want different +information show on breakpoints and when entering the debugger. + + +
- noinit +
- +Hitting breakpoint doesn't re-initialize debugger which would e.g. +cause profiling data to be reset. This implies trace option as +entering debugger would also re-initialize debugger state. This option +is mainly intended for breakpoints that use :file option to show +backtraces with "profile stack" command during +profiling. See +Usage examples section for an example. + +
+Note: you can give multiple options for conditional breakpoints, but +for address breakpoints you can give only one these options. And +"file" option is supported only for conditional breakpoints. +
+ + +Breakpoint conditions
+ ++"b help" explains very briefly the breakpoint condition syntax: +
++> b help +condition = <value>[.mode] [& <mask>] <comparison> <value>[.mode] + +where: + value = [(] <register/symbol/variable name | number> [)] + number/mask = [#|$|%]<digits> + comparison = '<' | '>' | '=' | '!' + addressing mode (width) = 'b' | 'w' | 'l' + addressing mode (space) = 'p' | 'x' | 'y' ++ +
+For CPU breakpoints, mode is the address width; it can be byte ("b"), +word ("w") or long ("l", default). For DSP breakpoints, mode specifies +the address space: "P", "X" or "Y". Note that on DSP only R0-R7 +registers can be used for memory addressing. For example; +
+db (r0).x = 1 && (r0).y = 2 ++ +
+If the value is in parenthesis like in '($ff820)' or '(a0)', then the +used value will be read from the memory address pointed by it. Note +that this conditional breakpoint expression value is checked at +run-time whereas quoted arithmetic expressions (mentioned in +Entering arguments +to debugger commands above) are evaluated already when +adding a breakpoint. For example, to break when a value in an address +(later) pointed by A0 matches the value currently in D0, one +would use: +
++b (a0) = "d0" ++ +
+If you're interested only on certain bits in the value, you can use +'&' and a numeric mask on either side of comparison operator to +mask the coresponding value, like this: +
+b ($ff820).w & 3 = (a0) && (a1) = d0 & %1100 ++ +
+Comparison operators should be familiar and obvious, except for '!' +which indicates inequality ("is not") comparison. For example: +
++b d0 > $20 && d0 < $40 && d0 ! $30 ++ + +
Tracking breakpoint conditions
+ ++As a convenience, if the both sides of the comparison are exactly the +same (i.e. condition is redundant as it's always either true or +false), the right side of the comparison is replaced with +its current value. This way you can give something like this: +
++b pc > "pc" ++
As:
++b pc > pc ++ +
+That in itself isn't so useful, but for inequality ('!') comparison, +conditional breakpoint will additionally track and output all further +changes for the given address/register expression. This can be used +for example to find out all value changes in a given memory address, +like this: +
++b ($ffff9202).w ! ($ffff9202).w :trace ++
+Because tracking breakpoint conditions will print the evaluated +value when it changes, they're typically used with the trace option +to track changes e.g. to some IO register. +
+ + +Breakpoint condition notes
+ +-
+
- +Any '!' condition should be given as the first condition. Because +breakpoint evaluation is stopped ("short-circuited") when any of the +conditions fails, the tracked value would not be updated correctly +unless tracking condition is given as the first one. + + +
-
+Hatari will internally update some register values without immediately
+updating the corresponding IO address range memory addresses. For
+example the Busy bit for the internal Blitter control register is
+(internally) cleared when Blitter activity stops, but the actual IO
+address for that control register gets updated only when something
+actually writes or reads that IO address. Many HW registers behave
+like this (status registers in FDC, ACIA, MFP, Blitter...).
+
+For breakpoints that track just a single IO register memory address, or +multiple ones of which none are modified by Hatari, +only by emulated code, this is not a problem, they get triggered as +expected. +
+However, if you have a breakpoint that tracks multiple IO registers +where some of them are updated by Hatari, for example to check that +other Blitter registers aren't updated while control register +indicates Blitter to be active (busy), things don't work as expected! +
+
Breakpoint variables
+ ++In addition to loaded symbols, the debugger supports also setting +conditional breakpoints on values of some "virtual" variables listed +by "b help". For example: +
+-
+
- If you want the emulation to stop on the first instruction of
+ next program; after TOS desktop is up, set a breakpoint on
+ the TEXT segment address given in a program basepage:
+
+b pc = TEXT :once +
+Note1: It's better to trigger it only once because if you'd leave it on, +during reboot you would get a warning for every instruction until TOS sets +a valid basepage. +
+Note2: you cannot use an address breakpoint for this because value of +a variable given to address breakpoint is evaluated when it's set, not +at run-time, so it cannot get the new value that the TEXT variable +gets when you start a program. +
+ - To view current program DATA and BSS segment contents,
+ use the corresponding variables:
+
+m DATA +m BSS +
+
+ - If you want to stop at a specific cycle within a frame (that is,
+ PC relative to the current VBL/HBL in cycles), set breakpoints to
+ specific "HBL" and "FrameCycles" variable values. If you for
+ example want to break after 20 HBLs, use:
+
+b HBL = "HBL+20" +
+
+ - Aes/Bios/Gemdos/LineA/LineF/Vdi/XbiosOpcode variables can be used
+ to catch AES, BIOS, GEMDOS, Line-A, Line-F, VDI and XBIOS OS-calls.
+ By default they contain the 0xffff value, so to trace e.g. all AES
+ calls, instead of a specific one, one needs to use something like this:
+
+b AesOpcode ! AesOpcode && AesOpcode < 0xffff :trace +
+
+
+Hint: "info" command "aes", "bios", "gemdos", "vdi" and "xbios" +subcommands for can be used to list the corresponding OS-call opcodes. +For example, to see the GEMDOS opcodes, use:
++info gemdos 1 ++ + +
Chaining breakpoints and other actions
+ ++As the file pointed by the breakpoint ":file" option (see +Breakpoint options) can contain any +debugger commands, it can also be used to do automatic "chaining" of +debugger and breakpoint actions so that after one breakpoint is hit, +another one is set. +
+ +For example if you have these input files:
+-
+
- "break.ini":
+
+b GemdosOpcode = 0x3D :trace :once :file program.ini +
+
+ - "program.ini":
+
+b pc = TEXT :trace :once :file trace.ini +
+
+ - "trace.ini":
+
+symbols prg +trace gemdos,cpu_symbols +b VBL = "VBL+4" :trace :once :file disable.ini +
+
+ - "disable.ini":
+
+trace none +b all +
+
+
+And then start Hatari with the first debugger input file and a GEMDOS +HD directory containing "desktop.inf" file: +
++hatari --parse break.ini /path/to/your/program.tos ++ +
-
+
- "break.ini" input file will break when TOS opens + the "desktop.inf" file (it's the first Fopen() i.e. GEMDOS call + 0x3D done by TOS at boot) and the breakpoint will run + the debugger commands from the "symbols.ini" file +
- "program.ini" will setup breakpoint to program startup + (because TEXT variable cannot be used before TOS has booted) +
- "trace.ini" input file loads symbols for the run program, sets Hatari + to trace several things (see Tracing section + below) in the emulated system for few VBLs until breakpoint runs + commands from the "disable.ini" file +
- "disable.ini" input file will disable tracing and remove + all (remaining) breakpoints +
Note:
+-
+
- Because debugger input files cannot "continue" +emulation, ":trace" option needs to be used for the breakpoint(s) +if you want emulation to continue after the breakpoint action(s). +
- In simpler breakpoint chain (like above), new breakpoint just +replaces the previous one, ":once" option tells that breakpoint +isn't needed after it's hit. + +
+Hint: It's better to test each input file separate before testing the +whole chain. Besides the ":file" breakpoint option, these debugger +input files can be also read with the debugger "file" command, "lock" +command "file" option and with the Hatari "--parse" command line +option. +
+ +Stepping through code
+ ++After analyzing the emulation state and/or setting new breakpoints, +you can continue the emulation with the "c" command. You can continue +for a given number of CPU instructions (or DSP instructions when "dc" +is used), or you can continue forever (until a non-tracing breakpoint +triggers) if you omit the instruction count. +
+ ++If you want to continue just to the next instruction, use "s" (step) +command to continue for exactly one instruction, or "n" (next), if you +want to skip subroutine and exception calls. "ds" and "dn" commands +do the same for DSP. +
+ ++You can also continue with the "n" until instruction of certain +type is encountered, by giving it the instruction type: +
-
+
- "branch" matches branch instructions: BCC, BRA, DBCC, JMP +
- "subcall" matches subroutine calls: BSR, JSR +
- "subreturn" matches return from subroutine: RTD, RTR, RTS +
- "exception" matches exceptions: BKPT, ILLG, STOP, TRAP, TRAPV +
- "exreturn" matches return from exception: RTE +
- "return" matches both subroutine and exception returns +
+For example: "n branch", or "dn branch". +
+ ++(Note: CHK, CHK2, FBCC, FDBCC, & FTRAPCC exception / branch CPU +instructions aren't supported currently.) +
+ + +Tracing
+ ++If you want e.g. to continue with real-time disassembling, you can +enable it with "trace cpu_disasm" (or "trace dsp_disasm" for DSP) at +the debugger prompt before continuing. +
++Disable tracing with "trace none" when you enter the debugger again. +"trace help" (or TAB) can be used to list all the (over 40) supported +traceable things, from HW events to OS functions. +
++Notes: +
+-
+
- +If GEMDOS HD emulation isn't enabled, GEMDOS call tracing needs to be +enabled at Hatari command line, it's not possible to enable it after +TOS has initialized GEMDOS. + +
- +AES, BIOS, GEMDOS and XBIOS traces show arguments for (most of) the +calls, VDI trace shows only function calls (parsing the arguments +would be too complicated). + +
- +Tracing options can be set even from a program within the emulation, +if you enable the Hatari "--bios-intercept" option and call XBios 255 +from the program with a suitable trace options string. + +
- +Note that the trace output file can be set only when Hatari starts, +it cannot be changed from within the debugger (or emulation). + +
+If there isn't a trace option for something you'd like to track, +you may be able to use tracing breakpoints, explained above. +For example, following tracks Line-A calls: +
++b LineAOpcode ! LineAOpcode && LineAOpcode < 0xffff :trace ++ + +
Profiling
+ ++Profiling tells where the emulated code spends most of its (emulated) +time. It can be used to find out where a program is (apparently) +stuck, or what are the largest performance bottlenecks for a program. +
+ +Collecting the profile data
+ ++Profiling is used by first enabling the profiler (use "dp" for DSP): +
++> profile on +Profiling enabled. ++
+And profiling will start once you continue the emulation: +
++> c +Returning to emulation... +Allocated CPU profile buffer (27 MB). ++ +
+When you get back to the debugger, the collected profiling information +is processed and a summary of in which parts of memory the execution +happened, and how long it took, is shown: +
++Allocated CPU profile address buffer (57 KB). +ROM TOS (0xE00000-0xE80000): +- active address range: + 0xe00030-0xe611a4 +- active instruction addresses: + 14240 (100.00% of all) +- executed instructions: + 4589668 (100.00% of all) +- used cycles: + 56898472 (100.00% of all) + = 7.09347s +Cartridge ROM (0xFA0000-0xFC0000): + - no activity + += 7.09347s ++
+(DSP RAM will be shown only as single area in profile information.) +
+ + +Investigating the profile data
+ ++When you're back in debugger, you can inspect the collected profile data: +
+
+> h profile
+'profile' - profile CPU code
+Usage: profile <subcommand> [parameter]
+
+ Subcommands:
+ - on
+ - off
+ - counts [count]
+ - cycles [count]
+ - misses [count]
+ - symbols [count]
+ - addresses [address]
+ - callers
+ - stack
+ - stats
+ - save <file>
+ - loops <file> [CPU limit] [DSP limit]
+
+ 'on' & 'off' enable and disable profiling. Data is collected
+ until debugger is entered again at which point you get profiling
+ statistics ('stats') summary.
+
+ Then you can ask for list of the PC addresses, sorted either by
+ execution 'counts', used 'cycles' or cache 'misses'. First can
+ be limited just to named addresses with 'symbols'. Optional
+ count will limit how many items will be shown.
+
+ 'addresses' lists the profiled addresses in order, with the
+ instructions (currently) residing at them. By default this
+ starts from the first executed instruction, or you can
+ specify the starting address.
+
+ 'callers' shows (raw) caller information for addresses which
+ had symbol(s) associated with them. 'stack' shows the current
+ profile stack (this is useful only with :noinit breakpoints).
+
+ Profile address and callers information can be saved with
+ 'save' command.
+
+ Detailed (spin) looping information can be collected by
+ specifying to which file it should be saved, with optional
+ limit(s) on how many bytes first and last instruction
+ address of the loop can differ (0 = no limit).
+
+
+For example, to see which memory addresses were executed most +and what instructions those have at the end of profiling, use:
++> profile counts 8 +addr: count: +0xe06f10 12.11% 555724 move.l $4ba,d1 +0xe06f16 12.11% 555724 cmp.l d1,d0 +0xe06f18 12.11% 555724 bgt.s $e06f06 +0xe06f06 12.11% 555708 move.b $fffffa01.w,d1 +0xe06f0a 12.11% 555708 btst #5,d1 +0xe06f0e 12.11% 555708 beq.s $e06f1e +0xe00ed8 1.66% 76001 subq.l #1,d0 +0xe00eda 1.66% 76001 bpl.s $e00ed8 +8 CPU addresses listed. ++ +
+Then, to see what the executed code and its costs look like +around top addresses: +
+> profile addresses 0xe06f04 +# disassembly with profile data: +# <instructions percentage>% (<sum of instructions>, <sum of cycles>, <sum of i-cache misses>) +$e06f04 : bra.s $e06f10 0.00% (48, 576, 0) +$e06f06 : move.b $fffffa01.w,d1 12.11% (555708, 8902068, 0) +$e06f0a : btst #5,d1 12.11% (555708, 6685268, 0) +$e06f0e : beq.s $e06f1e 12.11% (555708, 4457312, 0) +$e06f10 : move.l $4ba,d1 12.11% (555724, 11125668, 0) +$e06f16 : cmp.l d1,d0 12.11% (555724, 4461708, 0) +$e06f18 : bgt.s $e06f06 12.11% (555724, 4455040, 0) +$e06f1a : moveq #1,d0 0.00% (16, 64, 0) +Disassembled 8 (of active 14240) CPU addresses. ++
+Unlike normal disassembly, "profile addresses" command shows only +memory addresses which instructions were executed during profiling. +You get instruction cache misses only when using cycle-accurate 030 +emulation with a Hatari version configured to use WinUAE CPU core. +
+If you have loaded symbol information, symbol names are shown above +the corresponding addresses. With the "profile symbols" command you +get a list of how many times the code execution passed through the +defined symbol addresses. +
+ + +Profile data accuracy
+ +Profile data accuracy depends on Hatari emulation accuracy. +Profile data accuracy from most to least accurate when Hatari's +default emulation options are used is following:
+-
+
- Executed CPU and DSP instruction counts are accurate. +
- DSP cycles counts (and their variance information) should be accurate. + +
- 030 CPU instruction cache miss information (provided by WinUAE CPU core) + is assumed to be accurate. +
- Cycles used by a given CPU instruction depend to some extent on what + instruction(s), and data in case of 030, was processed before it. + While Hatari has some (instruction pairing) heuristics to take + that into account for 68000, in general instruction cycles are + averages. For 68000, cycles (provided by OldUAE CPU core) should + be fairly accurate, for 68030 they aren't (yet) not very accurate. +
Caller information
+ ++If you have loaded symbols (see Debug symbols) +before continuing emulation/profiling, additional caller information +will be collected for all the code symbol addresses which are called +as subroutines. This information includes callstack, call counts, +calling instruction type (subroutine call, branch, return etc), and +costs for those calls, both including costs for further subroutine +calls and without them. +
+ +When debugger is re-entered, current callstack is output before +profiling information:
++> a _P_LineAttack +CPU condition breakpoint 1 with 1 condition(s) added: + pc = $30f44 +$030f44 : 48e7 3820 movem.l d2-d4/a2,-(sp) +> c +... +CPU breakpoint condition(s) matched 1 times. + pc = $30f44 +Finalizing costs for 12 non-returned functions: +- 0x32a3c: _P_GunShot (return = 0x32b7e) +- 0x32b18: _A_FireShotgun (return = 0x3229a) +- 0x3223a: _P_SetPsprite (return = 0x32e86) +- 0x32e4e: _P_MovePsprites (return = 0x38070) +- 0x37f44: _P_PlayerThink (return = 0x36ea0) +- 0x36e44: _P_Ticker (return = 0x260e0) +- 0x25dcc: _G_Ticker (return = 0x1e4c6) +- 0x1e29e: _TryRunTics (return = 0x239fa) +- 0x238e8: _D_DoomLoop (return = 0x2556a) +- 0x24d7a: _D_DoomMain (return = 0x44346) +... ++ +
("profile stack" command can be used in breakpoints with :noinit +option to show backtraces during caller profiling.)
+ +Other information collected during profiling is shown with +following command:
++> profile callers +# <callee>: <caller1> = <calls> <types>[ <inclusive/totals>[ <exclusive/totals>]], <caller2> ..., <callee name> +# types: s = subroutine call, r = return from subroutine, e = exception, x = return from exception, +# b = branch/jump, n = PC moved to next instruction, u = unknown PC change +# totals: calls/instructions/cycles/misses +0xe00030: 0xffffff = 1 e, _main +0xe000fe: 0xe00a0c = 1 b, memdone +0xe0010a: 0xe04e34 = 1 s 1/5/72 1/5/72, _run_cartridge_applications +0xe00144: 0xe04dbe = 1 s 4/118/1512 1/27/444, _init_acia_vecs +0xe001ea: 0xe00ec6 = 1 b, _int_acia +0xe0038c: 0xe04c28 = 1 s 1/191/2052 1/191/2052, _init_exc_vec +0xe003a6: 0xe04c2e = 1 s 1/388/4656 1/388/4656, _init_user_vec +... ++ +
+For example, if you don't know all the places from which a certain +function is called, or in what context a certain interrupt handler can +be called during the period you're profiling, profile caller +information will tell you: +
++callee: caller: calls: calltype: + | | | / +0x379: 0x155 = 144 r, 0x283 = 112 b, 0x2ef = 112 b, 0x378 = 72 s +583236/359708265/1631189180 72/4419020/19123430, dsp_interrupt + | | | + inclusive costs exclusive costs callee name + (of calls from 0x378) + +Calltypes: +- b: jump/branch +- n: PC just moved to next address +- r: subroutine return +- s: subroutine call ++
+(Most "calls" to "dsp_interrupt" were subroutine call returns (=r) +to it from address 0x155.) +
+ ++With the execution counts in normal profiling data, caller information +can actually be used to have complete picture of what exactly the code +did during profiling. Main/overview work for this analysis is best done +automatically, by the profiler data post-processor (documented below). +
+ + +Caller data accuracy
+ +Everything about profile data accuracy applies also to caller costs, +but there are additional things to take into account, mainly because +profiler cannot determine when exceptions are being handled:
+-
+
- If there are exception(s) during a subroutine call, costs for + the exception handling will also be accounted for that subroutine. + This shouldn't be a problem unless those costs are very large, + i.e. check how much CPU your exception handlers take. +
- Indicated exception handler call type can be incorrect. +
- Profiled code doing return address related stack manipulations + confuses call tracking and produces incorrect results (profiler + has special code to handle EmuTOS AES switcher because of this). + Typically this produces large list of functions that are finalized + at profile end, so it should be easy to detect. +
- Compilicated recursive calls seem to sometimes cause inclusive + costs (ones including costs of further subroutine calls) to be + incorrect. Sometimes this can be noticed by them being even + >100%. +
- On DSP, profiler heuristics assume (for speed reasons) that + conditional subroutine calls never call the very next + instruction (as that would be very bad/inefficient code). +
Saving profile data to a file
+ +It's useful to save the profile data to a file: +
+> profile save program-profile.txt ++ +
With the saved profile disassembly (and optional caller information) +you can more easily investigate what your program did during +profiling, search symbols & addresses in it, and compare the +results to profiles you've saved from earlier versions of your code.
+ +You may even create your own post-processing tools for +investigating the profiling data more closely, e.g. to +find +CPU/DSP communication bottlenecks.
+ + +Profile data post-processing
+ +Saved profile data can be post-processed with (Python) script +installed by Hatari, to:
+-
+
- Get lists of functions/symbols with highest costs. +
- Get callgraphs of what functions/symbols cause those + costs and what kind of call hierarchy the profiled code + has. +
- Export profile data in Valgrind's + Callgrind format + for viewing it in + Kcachegrind + GUI. +
Providing symbols for the post-processor
+ +When the data is post-processed, you should always provide +the post-processor symbols for the profile code! Relying just on the +symbol in the profile data can cause costs to be asssigned to wrong +symbol, if symbol's code wasn't called through symbol's own address, +but by jumping inside its code.
+ +If your code is in fixed location, you should tell +post-processor to handle symbol addresses as absolute (-a):
++$ hatari_profile.py -a etos512k.sym emutos-profile.txt ++ +
Normal programs are relocated and you should instead give +the symbols as TEXT (code) section relative ones (-r):
++$ hatari_profile.py -r program.sym program-profile.txt ++ +
If symbols are included to your binary in DRI/GST format, first they +need to be extracted to the ASCII format +understood by the post-processor:
++$ gst2ascii -l -o program.prg > program.sym ++ +
If there are some extra symbols that you don't want to see +separately in profiles, because they aren't real functions, +but e.g. loop labels, you can either remove them manually +from the ASCII *.sym file, or filter them out with grep: +
++$ gst2ascii -l -o program.prg | grep -v -e useless1 -e useless2 > program.sym ++ + +
Post-processor provided statistics
+ +Above post-processor examples just parse + verify the given data +and produce output like this:
++Hatari profile data processor + +Parsing TEXT relative symbol address information from program.sym... +[...] +3237 lines with 1550 code symbols/addresses parsed, 0 unknown. + +Parsing profile information from program-profile.txt... +[...] +9575 lines processed with 368 functions. + +CPU profile information from 'program-profile.txt': +- Hatari v1.6.2+ (May 4 2013), WinUAE CPU core ++ +
To get statistics (-s) and list of top (-t) CPU users in profile, +add "-st" option:
++$ hatari_profile.py -st -r program.sym program-profile.txt +[...] +CPU profile information from 'program-profile.txt': +- Hatari v1.6.2+ (May 4 2013), WinUAE CPU core + +Time spent in profile = 34.49539s. + +Calls: +- max = 187738, in __toupper at 0x52b88, on line 8286 +- 1585901 in total +Executed instructions: +- max = 1900544, in flat_remap_mips+14 at 0x47654, on line 7020 +- 64499351 in total +Used cycles: +- max = 15224620, in flat_remap_mips+18 at 0x47658, on line 7022 +- 553392132 in total +Instruction cache misses: +- max = 184308, in _BM_T_GetTicks at 0x43b90, on line 4772 +- 4941307 in total + +Calls: + 11.84% 187698 __toupper + 11.48% 182105 _BM_T_GetTicks + 11.48% 182019 _I_GetTime +[...] +Executed instructions: + 34.83% 22462729 flat_generate_mips + 14.08% 9080215 flat_remap_mips + 8.55% 5515945 render_patch_direct + 5.09% 3283328 _TryRunTics +[...] +Used cycles: + 23.62% 130702768 flat_generate_mips + 12.42% 68735832 flat_remap_mips + 9.77% 54041148 _TryRunTics + 5.80% 32111536 correct_element +[...] +Instruction cache misses: + 37.03% 1829764 _TryRunTics + 11.20% 553314 _BM_T_GetTicks + 9.44% 466319 _NetUpdate + 9.27% 457899 _HGetPacket +[...] ++ +
If you want to see also symbol addresses and what is per call +cost, add -i option:
+
+$ hatari_profile.py -st -i -r program.sym program-profile.txt +[...] +Executed instructions: + 34.83% 22462729 flat_generate_mips (0x04778a, 774576 / call) + 14.08% 9080215 flat_remap_mips (0x047646, 313110 / call) + 8.55% 5515945 render_patch_direct (0x047382, 29977 / call) + 5.09% 3283328 _TryRunTics (0x042356, 19660 / call) +[...] +Used cycles: + 23.62% 8.14728s 130702768 flat_generate_mips (0x04778a, 0.28094s / call) + 12.42% 4.28461s 68735832 flat_remap_mips (0x047646, 0.14775s / call) + 9.77% 3.36863s 54041148 _TryRunTics (0x042356, 0.02017s / call) + 5.80% 2.00165s 32111536 correct_element (0x04a658, 0.00001s / call) +[...] +Instruction cache misses: + 37.03% 1829764 _TryRunTics (0x042356, 10956 / call) + 11.20% 553314 _BM_T_GetTicks (0x043b90, 3 / call) + 9.44% 466319 _NetUpdate (0x041bcc, 5 / call) + 9.27% 457899 _HGetPacket (0x041754, 5 / call) +[...] ++ +
(For cycles the "per call" information is in seconds, not as +a cost count.)
+ +If your profile file contains caller information, you should +add -p option to see it, as that will also help in detecting symbol +issues (see Interpreting +the numbers):
+
+$ hatari_profile.py -st -p -r program.sym program-profile.txt +[...] +9575 lines processed with 368 functions. +[...] +Of all 1570498 switches, ignored 581 for type(s) ['r', 'u', 'x']. + +CPU profile information from 'badmood-level-load-CPU.txt': +- Hatari v1.6.2+ (May 4 2013), WinUAE CPU core +[...] +Calls: + 11.84% 11.84% 187698 187698 __toupper + 11.48% 11.48% 182105 182105 _BM_T_GetTicks + 11.48% 22.95% 182019 364038 _I_GetTime +[...] +Executed instructions: + 34.83% 34.86% 34.86% 22462729 22484024 22484024 flat_generate_mips + 14.08% 14.10% 14.10% 9080215 9091270 9091676 flat_remap_mips + 8.55% 5515945 render_patch_direct + 5.09% 5.11% 94.96% 3283328 3294022 61247717 _TryRunTics +[...] +Used cycles: + 23.62% 23.69% 23.69% 130702768 131100604 131100604 flat_generate_mips + 12.42% 12.46% 12.46% 68735832 68928816 68930904 flat_remap_mips + 9.77% 9.80% 95.66% 54041148 54238744 529368824 _TryRunTics + 5.80% 5.82% 5.82% 32111536 32193664 32193664 correct_element +[...] +Instruction cache misses: + 37.03% 37.14% 98.57% 1829764 1835261 4870573 _TryRunTics + 11.20% 11.24% 11.24% 553314 555191 555191 _BM_T_GetTicks + 9.44% 9.49% 29.13% 466319 468782 1439340 _NetUpdate + 9.27% 9.29% 9.37% 457899 459197 463217 _HGetPacket +[...] ++ +
Now there's a message telling that some of the calls were ignored +because according to their "call type", they were actually returns from +exceptions, not real calls (this is mainly important for callgraph +generation, discussed below).
+ + +Interpreting the results
+ +In addition to accuracy issues mentioned in previous Profiling +sections, function/symbol level costs have gotchas of their own.
+ +The first cost percentage and count columns are sums for all +the instructions that were in profile data file between +the indicated symbol's address and the address of the next symbol +(= "between-symbols" cost).
+ +NOTE: If your symbol file doesn't contain addresses +for all the relevant symbols, results from this can be misleading because +instructions costs get assigned to whatever symbol's address +happened to precede those instructions. And you don't see which +caller is causing it from caller info or callgraph either, as entry +point for that time sink lacking a symbol means profiler hadn't +tracked calls to it...
+ +The next two cost percentage and count columns are for subroutine +calls costs, first one for exclusive and latter for inclusive cost +i.e. including costs for further subroutine calls. Values are based on +caller information documented above.
+ +Reasons why between-symbol costs, and subroutine call costs can +differ, are following:
+-
+
- Subroutine terminates before next symbol address: exclusive + cost is smaller than in-between cost because of missing + symbol information + (these are indicated with '*' in statistics). +
- Subroutine is called more through jumps/branches than through + subroutine calls: inclusive call count may be smaller than + in-between call count which includes branches/jumps. +
- Subroutine jumps/branches to another function instead of + using subroutine call, or function contains additional + (non-function) labels: exclusive cost is larger than + in-between cost. +
- Exception happening during subroutine call: exclusive cost is + (slightly) larger than in-between cost. +
In the first case, you should check the profile data to find out +whether there are missing symbols for executed function entry points. +You can notice function entry points as address gap and/or code +retrieving arguments from stack. Exit points can be seen from RTS +instructions.
+ +Second case can also be seen from the profile data. Call count +is same as count for how many times first instruction is executed +(worst case: large loop on subroutine's first instruction).
+ +While subroutine costs should be more accurate and relevant, due to +code optimizations many of the functions are not called as subroutines +(on m68k, using JSR/BSR), but just jumped or branced to. Because of +this, it's useful to compare both subroutine and between-symbols +costs. One should be able to see from the profile disassembly which +of the above cases is cause for the discrepancy in the values.
+ +NOTE: Before starting to do any serious source +level optimizations, you should always verify from profile +data (disassembly) where exactly the costs are in a function, to make +sure your optimization efforts can actually help the performance.
+ + +Generating and viewing callgraphs
+ +Callgraphs require that saved profile data contains caller +function address information, i.e. symbols for the code should +be loaded before starting profiling it (see +loading symbol data).
+ +Separate callgraphs will be created for each of the costs +(0=calls, 1=instructions, 2=cycles) with the -g option:
++$ hatari_profile.py -p -g -r program.sym program-profile.txt +[...] +Generating 'program-profile-0.dot' DOT callgraph file... + +Generating 'program-profile-1.dot' DOT callgraph file... + +Generating 'program-profile-2.dot' DOT callgraph file... +[...] ++ +
Callgraphs are saved in GraphViz +"dot" format. Dot files can be viewed:
+-
+
- With "dotty" program included with GraphViz +
- With XDot + Python GUI (best option on Linux), or some platform specific viewer +
- By converting dot file to PostScript or SVG format before
+ viewing it with viewers for those:
+
+$ dot -Tsvg program-profile-1.dot > program-profile-1.svg +
+ (problem with most PS/PDF and SVG viewers is that either they + don't allow zooming large callgraphs enough or they use huge + amounts of memory and get very slow) +
+
Produced callgraph will look like this:
+
+
+Interpreting the callgraph:
+-
+
- Diamond shaped nodes are symbols called as subroutines. + Values listed in them are subroutine call costs; inclusive + (total) cost with exclusive (own) cost in parenthesis, + followed by inclusive cost count. Exclusive cost is + shown only if it differs from inclusive one. +
- Ellipse shaped nodes are for other symbols (functions + called using jumps/branches, loop labels etc). Values + listed in them are between-symbols costs, i.e. normally + they're included to inclusive (total) costs shown in + subroutine call node somewhere higher in call hierarchy. +
- Nodes which exclusive (own) or between-symbols costs + exceed default or explicitly given threshold value, + have gray background. +
- Both nodes, which inclusive or between-symbols cost exceeds + the threshold value, and the arrows to & from them, + are marked red. +
- Arrow types indicate call types; normal arrows subroutine + calls, circles branches/jumps, backarrows returns. + Exception calls and returns are indicated with dashed lines, + unknown calls with dotted lines. +
- Arrow text tells from which address (within the caller) + the call originated. If symbol had multiple callers, text + includes count of calls from that particular address, and its + percentage is of all calls done to that symbol. +
Making large callgraphs readable
+ +If profile is for larger and more varied amount of code +(e.g. program startup), the resulting callgraph can be so +huge it's unreadable.
+ +If your code has interrupt handlers, they can get called +at any point, which can show in callgraph as "explicit" calls +from the interrupted functions. To get rid of such incorrect +calls, give interrupt handler names to --ignore-to option:
++$ hatari_profile.py -p -g --ignore-to handler1,handler2 -r program.sym program-profile.txt ++ +
In large callgraph most of the functions aren't really interesting, +because their contribution to the cost is insignificant. You can +remove large number of them with --no-leafs and --no-intermediate +options, those options act only on on nodes which costs are below +given threshold. Leaf nodes are ones which don't have any parents +and/or children. Intermediate ones have only single parent and +children (node calling itself is not taken into account). + +
Threshold for this is given with the --limit (-l) option. With +that it typically makes also sense to change the node emphasis +threshold with --emph-limit (-e) option:
++$ hatari_profile.py -p -g -l 0.5 -e 2.0 -r program.sym program-profile.txt ++ +
If you're not interested in from how many different addresses +a given function calls another function, use --compact option. If you +still see multiple calls between two nodes with it, the reason is that +they happened through different call paths which were removed from +the callgraph after --compact option was applied:
++$ hatari_profile.py -p -g -l 1.0 -e 2.0 --no-leafs --no-intermediate --compact -r program.sym program-profile.txt ++ +
If even this doesn't help, you can remove all nodes below +the given cost threshold limit with --no-limited option, but this +often doesn't leave much of a call hierarchy. Instead you may +consider removing all nodes except for subroutine call ones, with the +--only-subroutines option.
+ +If you have trouble locating nodes you're specially interested +about, you can either color them differently with the --mark option, +or exclude everything else from the callgraph except those nodes and +their immediate callers & callees, with the --only option:
++$ hatari_profile.py -p -g --only func1,func2 -r program.sym program-profile.txt ++ +
Last option for reading the callgraph is using -k option to +export the data for use in (Linux) Kcachegrind UI. Kcachegrind generates +callgraphs on the fly, and just for the area around the function +you selected, so navigating in callgraph may be easier. It also +shows the related profile disassembly, which can make verifying +matters easier:
++$ hatari_profile.py -p -k -r program.sym program-profile.txt +[...] +Generating callgrind file 'program-profile.cg'... +[...] +$ kcachegrind program-profile.cg ++
+Usage examples
+ ++Here's a list of some common debugging tasks and how to do them +with the Hatari debugger: +
+ +-
+
- Stopping on program startup and examining its data +
- Please see Breakpoint variables +and Inspecting emulation state +sections. + + +
- Tracing specific things in the system +
- To trace e.g. all GEMDOS calls and IO operations, use:
+
+trace gemdos,io_all +
+Please see Tracing section for more information +on tracing, what's possible with it and what are its limitations. +
+
+ - Stopping when certain PC address is passed Nth time +
- To stop e.g. after function/subroutine at $12345 is called for
+the 6th time:
+
+a $12345 :6 +
+
+
+ - Stopping when specific exception happens +
- Hatari's -D option doesn't invoke debugger on all exceptions and
+doesn't allow invoking debugger just for specific exceptions. To
+stop at specific exception, one can check when it's called.
+At the start of memory is the CPU exception table for exception
+handler addresses, so to stop e.g. at bus error with some extra
+information, one can use following:
+
+history on +b pc=($8) +
+After bus error invokes debugger, 'history' command can then be used +to see (executed memory addresses with their current) instructions +leading to the error. The most interesting vector addresses are: +$8 (Bus error), $C (Address error), $10 (Illegal instruction), +$14 (Division by zero). See also --debug-except option. +
+
+ - Stopping when register has a specific value +
- To stop when e.g. D1 register contains value 5, set a breakpoint on:
+
+b d1 = 5 +
+
+
+ - Stopping when a register value changes +
- To stop when e.g. D1 register value changes, set a breakpoint on:
+
+b d1 ! d1 +
+
+
+ - Stopping when register value is within some range +
- To stop when e.g. D1 register value is within range of 10-30,
+set a breakpoint on:
+
+b d1 > 9 && d1 < 31 +
+
+
+ - Stopping when memory location has a specific value +
- To stop when e.g. bit 1 of the Video Shifter Sync Mode byte at
+IO address $ff820a is set i.e. video frequency is 60Hz, set
+a breakpoint on:
+
+b ($ff820a).b & 2 = 2 +
+
+
+ - Stopping when a memory value changes +
- To stop when above bit changes, set a breakpoint on its value
+being different from the current value ('!' compares for inequality):
+
+b ($ff820a).b & 2 ! ($ff820a).b & 2 +
+
+
+ - Tracing all changes in specific memory location +
- To see the new values and continue without stopping, add
+the ":trace" breakpoint option:
+
+b ($ff820a).b & 2 ! ($ff820a).b & 2 :trace +
+
+
+ - Stopping at specific screen position +
- To stop e.g. when VBL is 100, HBL is 40 and line cycles is 5,
+use the corresponding debugger variables:
+
+b VBL = 100 && HBL = 40 && FrameCycles = 5 +
+
+
+ - Stopping after value increases/decreases by certain amount +
- To stop e.g. after D0 value has increased by 10, set breakpoint on:
+
+b d0 = "d0 + 10" +
+
+
+ - Examining specific system call return value +
- To check e.g. what's the Fopen() GEMDOS call return value,
+check with "info gemdos 1" its opcode, set a breakpoint for that
+and step to next (n) instruction from the trap call when breakpoint
+is hit. GEMDOS call return value is then in register D0:
+
+> trace gemdos +> b GemdosOpcode = $3D +> c +[...continue until breakpoint...] +1. CPU breakpoint condition(s) matched 1 times. + GemdosOpcode = $3D +> n +GEMDOS 0x3D Fopen("TEST.TXT", read-only) +> e d0 += %1000000 (bin), #64 (dec), $40 (hex) ++
+
+ - Seeing code leading to a breakpoint +
- To see CPU instructions executed before debugger was entered,
+you need to enabled history tracking before it. Whenever
+debugger is entered, you can then request given number (here 16) of
+past instructions to be shown:
+
+history cpu +c +[breakpoint is hit and debugger entered] +history 16 +
+
+
+ - Getting instruction execution history for every breakpoint +
-
+To see last 16 instructions for both CPU and DSP whenever
+(a normal or tracing) breakpoint is hit:
+
+history on +lock history 16 +c +
+
+
+ - Single stepping so that new register values are shown after each step +
-
+
+lock registers +s +[new register values] +s +[new register values] +... +
+
+
+ - Showing current stack contents +
- To see first 64 bytes on top of the stack, use:
+
+m "a7-64"-a7 +
+
+
+ - Seeing specific information each time debugger is entered +
- To see above information whenever some breakpoint is hit,
+you enter debugger manually etc, write that command to e.g.
+stack.ini file and then use:
+
+lock file stack.ini +
+Please see also Chaining breakpoints +section for more examples on what you can do with the debugger input files. +
+
+ - Finding where a program or the OS is stuck +
- Profiling tells from which addresses CPU is executing the instructions:
+
+profile on +c +[after a while, use AltGr+Pause to get back to debugger] +profile counts +
+Please see Profiling section for more info. +
+
+ - Seeing program callstack when breakpoint is hit +
- Profiler caller data includes +callstack information (with some limitations). + + +
- Seeing call backtraces whenever given function is called +
- Enable profiling, load symbols for the program and set breakpoint
+for the function you're interested about, in the following way:
+
+profile on +symbols prg +b pc = _my_function :quiet :noinit :file showstack.ini +
+I.e. whenever 'my_function' address is called, quietly trigger a +breakpoint without reseting profiling (callstack) information and run +debugger command(s) from the 'showstack.ini' debugger script file, +which contains following command: ++profile stack +
+
+
+ - Seeing how program functions/symbols call each other +
- Profile data +post-processing can provide execution callgraphs. + + +
+Hint: for most of the above commands, one just needs to prefix them with +"d" (or "dsp" when using full command names) to do similar operation on +the DSP. +
+ + +Build notes
+ ++Lastly, the debugger is much nicer to use with the command line +history, editing and especially the completion support for the +command, command argument and symbol names. +
++If you're building Hatari yourself, please make sure that you have the +GNU readline development files installed (on Debian / Ubuntu these +come from the libreadline5-dev package). Otherwise the name completion +and other features don't get enabled when you configure Hatari. +
++ENABLE_TRACING define needs to be set for tracing to work. +By default it should be enabled. +
+ + +Performance
+ +Hatari performance varies between Atari programs, depending on what +features Hatari needs to emulate for them. Less accurate Atari +emulators may be faster as emulation accuracy has a performance +overhead.
+ +The operating system and libraries below Hatari can also sometimes +have a noticeable effect on performance.
+ + +Improving Hatari performance
+ ++Hatari currently runs best in 16 or 32 bits per pixel color depth +mode, so try to avoid 24 bits per pixel display modes if possible. +16-bit mode is fastest. +
+ ++On OSX, frame skipping, zooming and drive LED options (listed below) +seem to have a large effect on performance in the windowed mode. +This is apparently due to issues in the SDL OSX backend and how OSX +itself composites non-fullscreen window contents. OSX uses always +32-bit mode. +
+ ++Unless you've disabled compiler optimizations (like GCC's -O2 or -O3 +options) in the Hatari build, the extra optimization flags (like GCC's +"-mtune=i686") don't seem to have very large effect on Hatari +performance. Using GCC -O3 option instead of -O2 can give minor +(5-10%) performance improvements for things (demos) that use very +heavily interrupts. +
+ ++However, Hatari can be sped up considerably by giving up some +emulation or emulator accuracy. Except for DSP, these options +should be needed only on very slow devices like handhelds. See below. +
+ ++If nothing else helps, try an earlier Hatari version. More accurate +emulation or emulator output in newer Hatari versions means that they +can be slower despite optimizations. +
+ + +Emulation options
+ ++Emulation options have the largest impact on performance. +These options can be changed from the Hatari GUI System dialog and +the emulation needs to be rebooted for any of these changes to take +an effect! They're enabled by default. +
+ +DSP
++Emulating the Falcon DSP is performance-wise several times more demanding +than emulating the m68k; DSP runs at higher frequency, executes many +instructions for each m68k instruction and emulation isn't as mature +and optimized. Unless some Falcon program needs DSP, none or +dummy DSP emulation mode could be used. Even of the programs +that do use DSP, many use it only for background music and work +fine without the real DSP emulation. +
+ +Timer-D
++The single largest factor contributing to general Hatari emulation +performance is the handling of interrupts. Enabling Timer-D patching +option (about) doubles Hatari ST/STE emulation performance as it +significantly reduces the number of interrupts generated by the emulated +Atari machine. Using this has adverse effect only for very rare programs. +
+ +FDC
++While accurate FDC emulation doesn't take that much CPU, it slows down +floppy image accesses (and Hatari startup) a lot. Only very +few demos and games require accurate FDC emulation for their copy protection, +so enabling fast floppy access is fairly safe. +
+ +Compatible CPU
++After the DSP and interrupts, m68k emulation takes most time. +Disabling the "Slower but more compatible CPU" option will speed up +the emulation a lot, but it won't anymore be cycle accurate. This can +be fine for many games and other programs, but won't work e.g. for demos +using overscan or rasters. +
+ ++Roughly speaking, for DSP emulation, one needs at least 2Ghz machine. +For normal (unpatched) Timer-D frequency on some specific cases (like +demos with overscan 512 color animations) one may need over 1GHz +machine, but some rare ST/STE demos may require over 1GHz machine even +with Timer-D patching. For "Compatible CPU" one needs at least 1/2Ghz +machine. +
+ ++NOTE: Above options may cause some programs to work in correctly. +The Hatari Software Compatibility List +lists programs known to need real real Falcon DSP emulation, Timer-D +frequency or accurate FDC timings. Disabling "Compatible CPU" option +is recommended only as a last resort. +
+ + +Emulator options
+ ++Emulator options don't usually have as large effect on performance as +emulation options, but they don't affect the emulated programs at all, +just the quality of the emulation "output". These options can also +be toggled at run-time without rebooting the emulation. +
+ +Sound
++Internal Hatari sound handling and the SDL_mixer sound thread +libALSA sound processing can account up to 1/3 of the Hatari CPU usage +in normal ST/STE emulation. Disabling sound will get rid of that. +Using low sound frequency or one matching your sound card may also help. +Best is if you disable also background music from the programs you run +in Hatari as this can significantly reduce the number of generated +interrupts. +
+ +Frame skipping
++Screen rendering can take noticeable amount of CPU time. The default +Hatari "auto" frame skipping should be used unless there's a good +reason not to. It will skip converting and showing some of the frames +if there's not enough time for them. +
++Also, if your monitor refresh frequency is lower than the selected +Hatari monitor frequency (e.g. LCD monitors usually use 60Hz whereas +Atari monochrome monitor uses 71Hz), you should use frameskip of one. +The reason is that if your SDL library uses VSync to synchronize the +output to screen (like OSX one?), with zero frame skip that forces the +emulation to run slower than a real Atari. If SDL doesn't use VSync, +Hatari does redundant work to convert frames you can't see. +
+ +Zooming
++If you are not using frame skip, disabling zooming can have +noticeable improvement on performance. You can do this by specifying +suitably low "Max zoomed" resolution (--zoom +1 command line option sets it to 320x200). If you still want to +have a nice fullscreen mode, you should rather add the right resolution +mode-lines (e.g. "320x200") to your xorg.conf file. If you still want +to use zooming, disabling borders may help a bit. +
+ +Spec512 color handling
++Handling Spec512 color modes which change the ST/e palette constantly +takes some extra CPU. If you have problems with CPU usage in such +screens and you care more e.g. from the sound quality than visuals, you +can either increase the threshold or disable the Spec512 mode handling +completely by zeroing the threshold for that with the +--spec512 0 option. +
+ +Statusbar and drive LED
++If your version of the SDL library uses VSync to synchronize the screen +output, drawing of the statusbar or the drive LED may have some minor +impact on performance too. Normally they shouldn't. +
+ + +Measuring the performance
+ ++There are a couple of ways to monitor and measure Hatari performance. +
++By default Hatari has Statusbar visible and automatic frameskip +enabled. When Hatari has enough time that it can sleep a little each +frame, the statusbar frame skip ("FS") value keeps at zero. If Hatari +is completely busy, it will increase to the maximum specified +(automatic) frame skip value. +
++Hatari has also a facility to measure FPS i.e. Frames Per Second. +Just enable the --fast-forward option +on command line (or use the corresponding keyboard shortcut), and +after a while, press the "Pause" key. Whenever Hatari emulation is +paused, Hatari will output on console how many VBLs it could show per +second along with some other numbers. +
++It depends on what you want to measure, but usually it's best to +disable sound and set high frame skip like +--sound off --frameskips 60 so that +the associated external overheads are minimized. E.g. video output +can on some platforms do VSync and measurements would then show your +monitor refresh frequency instead of the actual Hatari performance. +
++On Unix systems with times() function +call, only the time spent by the Hatari process itself is measured. +On other systems, much less accurate SDL "wall clock" timings are +used. To make latter more accurate you could use also +--run-vbls option to specify how many +VBLs Hatari should run before it exits. In this case it's best to +either have the test-case run automatically from the AUTO-folder or +given as memory snapshot to Hatari with the frame skip set equal to +the VBL count. +
++Note that these numbers can fluctuate quite a bit, especially +when the SDL timings are used, so for (statistically) reliable numbers +you may need to repeat the measurement several times. You should of +course make also sure that the system doesn't have any other activity +at the same time you're making the measurements. +
+Appendix
Copying
+This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify -it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the +it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by +the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY -or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public -License for more details.
-You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License -along with this program; if not, write to Free Software Foundation, -Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General +Public License for more details. ++You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License +along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, +Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA +
The GNU Project and the Free Software Foundation | The GNU General Public License
+The GNU Project and the Free Software +Foundation | The +GNU General Public License
Introduction to Emulation
+Emulation via software is an art and Hatari is an example of this.
-Emulation is to make a computer behave like a (probably) completely different machine on the lowest possible niveau. -This includes CPU and custom chip emulation allowing software written for the emulated machine to be run without notice. -A good emulator will run most of the software intended for the emulated platform without trouble. +
Emulation is to make a computer behave like a (probably) completely +different machine on the lowest possible niveau. +This includes CPU and custom chip emulation allowing software written +for the emulated machine to be run without notice. +A good emulator will run most of the software intended for the emulated +platform without trouble.
-The key to emulation is to simply do those things with a software program, the emulator, that normally chips would perform. -So you have an CPU emulator that basically consists of a large loop that does exactly what the real thing would do: +The key to emulation is to simply do those things with a software +program, the emulator, that normally chips would perform. +So you have an CPU emulator that basically consists of a large loop +that does exactly what the real thing would do:
-
-
- fetch an instruction from virtual memory -
- interpret this instruction -
- fetch operands from the emulated registers and memory -
- perform the operation like addition or changing the program counter on a jump instruction -
- writes results back into the intended registers or memory locations -
- increment of the program counter and loop +
- fetch an instruction from virtual memory +
- interpret this instruction +
- fetch operands from the emulated registers and memory +
- perform the operation like addition or changing the program +counter on a jump instruction +
- writes results back into the intended registers or memory +locations +
- increment of the program counter and loop
-The typical von-Neumann CPU can be emulated very fast, stable and error-free using such a simple loop system. +The typical von-Neumann CPU can be emulated very fast, stable and +error-free using such a simple loop system.
-But in most cases the CPU emulation is the simplest part. Correct emulation of the various cutom chips and hardware +But in most cases the CPU emulation is the simplest part. Correct +emulation of the various custom chips and hardware parts of the emulated system is much trickier.
- -Software compatibility list
-This is a little compilation of what software does work in Hatari. It is by no means finished.
- -| Game | -Working | -Sound | -Comment | -
| Eliminator | -yes | -perfect | -- |
| Speedball | -yes | -perfect | -- |
| Xenon | -yes | -music ok - fx dodgy | -bullets and explosions sound weired | -
| F15 Strike Eagle 2 | -yes | -ok | -keyboard emulation seems to be dodgy | -
| Rick Dangerous | -yes | -perfect | -- |
| Slayer | -yes | -ok | -raster fx at highscore entry dodgy | -
| Lethal Xcess | -no | -- | crashes while loading | -
| Star Goose | -yes | -music ok - bullet sound dodgy | -- |
| Xenon 2 - Megablast | -yes | -perfect (including sampled intro) | -- |
| Metal Mutant | -yes | -seems ok | -some color effects in the lower screen seem buggy | -
| Defenders Of The Earth | -yes | -- | - |
| Nebulus | -yes | -music ok; snowball, balls and trapdoors dodgy | -otherwise working to a playable extend | -
| Application | -Working | -Comment | -
| DevPac 2.2 | -yes | -MonST crashy | -
| Turbo Assembler | -yes | -- |
| GFABASIC 3.6TT | -yes | -- |
| ST Basic | -yes | -- |
| Neochrome | -yes | -rasters sometimes unstable | -
| Tempus | -yes | -- |
| Sagrotan | -yes | -- |
| MusicMon 2 | -yes | -- |
| Protracker | -yes | -- |
- -
| Matthias Arndt July 08 2003 | -
-