--- hatari/doc/manual.html 2019/04/09 08:47:34 1.1.1.10 +++ hatari/doc/manual.html 2019/04/09 08:56:01 1.1.1.19 @@ -1,18 +1,16 @@ - + Hatari User's Manual - - - - - - + content="User's manual for the Atari ST emulator Hatari" /> + + + + + -

Hatari User's Manual

+

Hatari User's Manual

-

-Version 1.3 +

-

+

-

-Hatari on the WWW: http://hatari.berlios.de/ -

- -

Index

- + +

Index

+ +
+ +
-

Introduction

+

Introduction

-

General description

+

General description

-Hatari is an Atari ST, STE, TT and Falcon emulator for Linux, FreeBSD, BeOS and -other Systems which are supported by the SDL library. +Hatari is an Atari ST, STE, TT and Falcon emulator for Linux, OSX, +Windows and other Systems which are supported by the SDL library. The emulator is open source software and is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). @@ -152,18 +104,21 @@ Unlike many other Atari ST emulators whi environment for running GEM applications, Hatari tries to emulate the hardware of a ST as close as possible so that it is able to run most of the old ST games and demos. Of course you can run normal GEM applications with Hatari, too. -Recent versions of Hatari even feature basic STE, TT and Falcon emulation. +Recent versions of Hatari even feature STE, Falcon and basic TT emulation.

-

Features

+

Features

-

STE hardware emulation

-STE emulation is still a little bit experimental, but basically -there is support for most of the enhanced/additional STE features: +

There is support for following additional STE features:

- -

Very experimental TT hardware emulation

-There is support for following additional TT features: +

Experimental TT hardware emulation

+

There is support for following additional TT features:

- -

Very experimental Falcon hardware emulation

-There is support for following additional Falcon features: +

Falcon hardware emulation

+

There is support for following additional Falcon features:

-

-DSP emulation is still very experimental, but many games and demos -already work with it. If it takes too much CPU, there's a dummy mode -too, which helps to get some demos and games running. -

+

See the developers' doc/todo.txt file +(included with Hatari sources) for the details on the few remaining +emulation gaps and the Hatari Atari +Software Compatibility List for which Atari programs are known +to be affected by them.

-

System requirements

+

System requirements

-

Hatari currently has the following system requirements:

+

Hatari currently has the following minimum system requirements:

-Certain versions of Hatari have successfully been tested by various people on +In the course of time Hatari has successfully been tested by various people on the following systems:

-

Compiling and running

+

Compiling and running

-

Compiling Hatari

+

Compiling Hatari

-

First, you need the SDL library, you can get it at: -http://www.libsdl.org/. Most -distributions already ship a suitable version. -Make sure to install the appropriate header files as well often called -"libsdl-dev" or the like. -

-

Second, you need the zLib compression library. You can get it from http://www.gzip.org/zlib/ -but the version shipped with your distribution will be sufficient in -most cases. Make sure to have the header files -for it installed as well. -

+

Required:

+ + +

Optional:

+

-For optional features like PNG format screenshots and Hatari window -embedding, you need to have the header files for libpng and libX11. +The versions available in your Linux distribution will be sufficient +in most cases, but make sure you have also the header files installed +for the libraries as well! Typically they're in a corresponding -dev +package.

+

-Of course, you need the GNU C compiler and (GNU) Make, too! -

-

Change to the hatari/ directory, copy -Makefile-default.cnf to -Makefile.cnf and adapt the configuration file -to suite your system. Alternatively, you can use the supplied configure -script to auto-detect all parameters (type -"./configure --help" -to see the options of the script). -Don't forget to use some good CFLAGS for the compiler optimizations, e.g. -run configure in the following way: -

+After you've verified that you have the required libraries and their +development files, change to the hatari/ +directory. Create a build/ directory under +it and configure the build system for your environment:
-CFLAGS="-O3 -fomit-frame-pointer" ./configure
+mkdir -p build
+cd build
+cmake ..
 

Then compile Hatari by typing make. -If all -works fine, you'll get the executable hatari +If all works fine, you'll get the executable hatari in the src/ subdirectory.

+

+Note: Instead of calling CMake directly, you can also use the supplied +configure script to run CMake and to give the arguments (like install +prefix) in a format familiar from GNU Autotools using programs. Type +"./configure --help" +to see all the options supported by this script. +

-

Installation of a TOS ROM

+

Installation of a TOS ROM

Before you can start Hatari, you have to copy a TOS ROM image to the data -directory (the data directory is specified -in the configuration file Makefile.cnf) and +directory (<prefix>/share/hatari/, by +default /usr/local/share/hatari/) and rename it to tos.img, or use the --tos command line option to tell Hatari where to find a TOS ROM. @@ -325,7 +302,7 @@ of the emulated Atari. Unfortunately it is not possible to ship an original ROM image with the Hatari package since these images are still copyrighted. But you can easily create an image with a real ST and one of those various -ROM-image programs for the ST (search for "TOSDUMP" with your +ROM-image programs for the ST (search for "TOSDUMP" with your favourite internet search engine). If your old ST does not work anymore, you can also try to search the internet directly for corresponding TOS ROM image, but don't ask the Hatari team where to get one.

@@ -340,19 +317,18 @@ more details), but it's free and compati find a suitable TOS image in the default dir, you'll get the chance to select a TOS image file from the GUI.

-

Installation of the binary

+

Installation of the binary

-

Type make install as root to do a -systemwide installation. In this case it is recommended -to set the DATADIR variable in Makefile.cnf to a proper value. /usr/local/share/hatari -is a good value in that case.

-

The Hatari executable should now be in your PATH and accessible from -anywhere.

+

Type make install as "root" user to +do a systemwide installation.

+

Assuming you didn't change the default installation prefix and that +/usr/local/bin/ is in your PATH, you should +be now able to start the Hatari executable from anywhere.

When you finally have got a TOS image, try starting Hatari with the option --help to find out more about its command line parameters.

-

Running Hatari for the first time

+

Running Hatari for the first time

Now type hatari to run the emulator for the first time. If all goes @@ -363,944 +339,550 @@ to turn on the GUI to configure Hatari to suit your needs, press F11 to toggle windowed and fullscreen mode.

-

Command line options

+

Configuration options precedence

+ +

Hatari settings can come from several sources, with later ones +overriding the earlier given ones: +

+ +

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 name]
+ hatari [options] [disk image | directory | Atari program ]
 
+

As an argument one can give either a name of:

+ + +

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>
- - - - -
-use the given file as configuration file instead of -~/.hatari/hatari.cfg -
- - - - -
-−−fast-forward <bool>
- - - - -
-On fast machine helps skipping (fast forwarding) Hatari -output -
- -

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 window mode -
- - - - -
-−−grab
- - - - -
-Grab mouse (also) in window mode -
- - - - -
-−z, −−zoom <x>
- - - - -
-Zoom low resolution (1=no, 2=yes) -
- - - - -
-−−frameskips <x>
- - - - -
-Skip <x> frames after each displayed frame to -accelerate emulation (0=disabled, >4 uses automatic -frameskip with given value as maximum) -
- - - - -
-−−borders <bool>
- - - - -
-Show screen borders (for overscan demos, ST(e) color mode -specific etc) -
- - - - -
-−−statusbar <bool>
- - - - -
-Show statusbar (with floppy leds etc etc) -
- - - - -
-−−drive-led <bool>
- - - - -
-Show overlay drive led when statusbar isn’t -shown -
- - - - -
-−−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) -
- - - - -
-−−bpp <bool>
- - - - -
-Force internal bitdepth (x = 8/15/16/32, 0=disable) -
- +

-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> (384 -<= w <= 1024) -
- - - - -
-−−vdi−height <h>
- - - - -
-Use extended VDI resolution with height <h> (200 -< h <= 768) -
- +

--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 -
- +

-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

- - - - -
-−−disk-a <file>
- - - - -
-Set disk image for floppy drive A -
- - - - -
-−−disk-b <file>
- - - - -
-Set disk image for floppy drive B -
- - - - -
-−d, −−harddrive -<dir>
- - - - -
-Emulate an ST harddrive (<dir> = root -directory) -
- - - - -
-−−acsi <file>
- - - - -
-Emulate an ACSI hard disk with an image <file> -
- - - - -
-−−ide <file>
- - - - -
-Emulate an IDE hard disk with an image <file> -
- - - - -
-−−slowfdc <bool>
- - - - -
-slow down FDC emulation (deprecated) -
- +

--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

- - - - -
-−s, −−memsize <x>
- - - - -
-Set amount of emulated RAM, x = 1 to 14 MiB, or 0 for 512 -KiB -
- - - - -
-−t, −−tos -<imagefile>
- - - - -
-Specify TOS ROM image to use -
- - - - -
-−−cartridge <imagefile>
- - - - -
-Use ROM cartridge image <file> (only works if -GEMDOS HD emulation and extended VDI resolution are -disabled) -
- - - - -
-−−memstate <file>
- - - - -
-Load memory snap-shot <file> -
- +

+--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 -
- +

+--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) -
- - - - -
-−−timer−d <bool>
- - - - -
-Patch redundantly high Timer-D frequency set by TOS. This about doubles -Hatari speed as the original Timer-D frequency causes most of the -interrupts. -
- - - - -
-−−dsp <x>
- - - - -
-Falcon DSP emulation (x = none, dummy or emu, Falcon -only) -
- - - - -
-−−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. -
- - - - -
-−k, −−keymap -<file>
- - - - -
-load keyboard mapping from <file> -
- -

Debug options

- - - - -
-−D, −−debug
- - - - -
-Toggle whether CPU exceptions invoke the debugger -
- - - - -
-−−bios-intercept
- - - - -
-Enable Bios/XBios interception -
- - - - -
-−−trace <trace1,...>
- - - - -
-Activate debug traces, see --trace help for available tracing options -
- - - - -
-−−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 -
+

+--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 succesfully, you can use the emulator as +

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

+

The GUI

Press F12 to enter the GUI. Navigate it with the mouse. The GUI is rather self explanatory.

-

The Main Menu

+

The Main Menu

-Hatari's GUI - the main menu + Hatari's GUI - the main menu
-

From the main menu, you can reach the other setup dialogs by clicking on -the appropriate buttons.

- -

You can load the current settings from a configuration file by clicking -on the Load config button and you can save the -current settings to a configuration file with the -Save config button.

- -

Click OK to go back to the emulated -ST. All changed options will be applied.

-

Check the Reset machine button 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 ST. -

-

Click Quit to terminate Hatari and -return to the host OS.

-

Click Cancel to abandon any changes -that you have made.

+

+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 Load config. and you can save +the current settings to a configuration file by clicking on +Save config.. +

+

+Click OK to go back and continue the emulation. +All changed options will be applied. +

+

+Select the Reset machine 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 Quit to terminate Hatari +and return to the host OS. +

+

+Click Cancel to abandon any +changes that you have made. +

-

The File Selector Dialog

+

The File Selector Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the fileselector + Hatari's GUI - the fileselector

@@ -1308,116 +890,190 @@ that you have made.

or folder.

- To enter a folder or choose a file, simply click on the entry in the main box - of the dialog. You can use the arrows at the right, the cursor up and down - keys and the page up and down keys to navigate through the list. + 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. Use the .. button to go up one level - in the directory tree. Use the ~ button to return - to your home directory. The / button can be used + 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

-Hatari's GUI - the system dialog + Hatari's GUI - the system dialog

- First you can select the CPU type here. Here are some important hints for - choosing the correct CPU type: + The system dialog can be used to define the basic hardware attributes of + the machine that should be emulated.

- -

- Beside the CPU type, you can also choose the machine type to emulate. - 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. -
+ 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: TT and Falcon emulation are very incomplete. They may not work - very well. +
+ 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.

+

- Select the CPU clock you want to use. 8Mhz is ST standard and the most - compatible. Use 16MHz for Mega STE and Falcon emulation. + 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: +

+ + +

+ 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.

-

With the "Slower but more compatible CPU" option, you can enable - the emulation of 68k address errors and the 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.

- For Falcon mode, you can choose whether you want to enable DSP emulation, - fake it or completely disable it. Most Falcon programs only play sound or work + 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). So if you have a slow host CPU, you can try if your - Falcon program also runs with DSP disabled or in "dummy" mode. + 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.

-

You can also enable/disable Blitter emulation here. The Blitter is a custom - chip that accelerates some graphical operations. This switch only toggles the - Blitter in plain ST mode. In STE mode, the Blitter is always enabled (since all - STEs have been sold with a Blitter chip).

-

If you enable the "Real time clock emulation" switch, a RTC will - be emulated based on the time of the host computer. Note that you need at least - TOS 1.02 for proper RTC emulation, TOS 1.00 does not support this.

-

The Timer-D patch 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 then.

-

NOTE: These parameters are very sensitive to the emulated -ST and it is strongly recommended to -reset the emulated ST after changing these options.

+

+ 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

+

The Floppy Disks Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the floppy disks dialog + Hatari's GUI - 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. + "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 Browse next to the @@ -1435,75 +1091,91 @@ insert the second disk of a two disk gam 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 slow FDC (Floppy Disk Controller) emulation. - "Slow floppy access" is normally not required, except for some few - slideshows / intros which run too fast without this option. + 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.

- You can choose if you want Hatari to write-protect your disks. Atari ST virii - can spread on disk images too so it might be a good idea to enable the write - protection option. However you can't save highscores or games to your disk - images in that case. + 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.

-Hatari's GUI - the new floppy dialog + Hatari's GUI - the new floppy dialog

If you need to create a new blank disk image, click on Create blank image. - Parameters for the new image can be set in the following dialog. + 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 Create to save the new image or on Back to return to the disk dialog.

After clicking Create, 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. + 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

+

The Hard Disks Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the hard disks dialog + Hatari's GUI - the hard disks dialog

- This dialog can be used to change the harddisk settings. + 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.

- You can select a harddrive image for ACSI or IDE hard drive emulation via - image file here or you may select a directory of your local filesystem to be - emulated as the harddrive of the emulated system. + 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.

- 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. + 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 for IDE hard disk emulation you also need a TOS version >= 2.05. - And ACSI hard disk emulation does not work with TOS 4.0x in Falcon mode. + 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

+

The Memory Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the memory dialog + Hatari's GUI - the memory dialog

You can select the amount of RAM for the emulated ST here. Only @@ -1522,10 +1194,11 @@ different versions of Hatari. E.q. if yo cannot load your old memory snapshots back.

-

The ROM Dialog

+

The ROM Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the ROM dialog + Hatari's GUI - the ROM dialog

Here you can select the TOS image to use. Click on

Keep in mind that any custom cartridge image will not work together with -GEMDOS hard disk emulation or the VDI extended resolution emulation +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.

@@ -1556,10 +1229,11 @@ when changing one of these option.

-

The Joystick Dialog

+

The Joystick Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the joystick dialog + Hatari's GUI - the joystick dialog

In this dialog, you can configure the emulated joysticks. @@ -1574,7 +1248,7 @@ which are plugged in the enhanced joysti 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".

+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 @@ -1583,109 +1257,180 @@ the keys for up, down, left, right and f

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 +

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 Screen Dialog

+

The Atari Monitor Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the screen dialog + Hatari's GUI - the Atari monitor dialog

Here you control the video output of the emulated Atari.

- Check "Fullscreen" to run Hatari fullscreen, default is windowed. + 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:

+

- "Use Borders" toggles the displaying of the borders around the ST - screen. Some few demos/games use the borders for displaying additional - graphics. However, when you enable this option, it increases CPU computing - time, so you should not enable it if you have a slow computer. - Please note that this option also only affects the ST and STE mode, TT and - Falcon modes are always displayed without borders. +Because TT and Falcon support natively larger resolutions, +VDI mode is most useful with ST / STE emulation.

+ + +

The Hatari Screen Dialog

+ +
+ Hatari's GUI - the Hatari screen dialog +
+

- "Zoom ST-Low res." controls whether Hatari doubles the low - resolutions. For example Hatari then zooms the ST low resolution 320x200 to - 640x400 and it doubles 384x267 (ST low with borders) to 768x534. - Note that zooming also takes a lot of CPU computing time and should not be - enabled on slow computers. +Here you control how the video output of the emulated Atari appears +on your screen.

+

- "Statusbar" toggles the 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. + Check "Fullscreen" to run Hatari in fullscreen. By default Hatari + runs in windowed mode.

- The "Frame Skip" option can be set to speed up the emulator + 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.
+ 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!

- 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. +Indicators that you can have on the Hatari window: +

+ +

+"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:

+

-Extended GEM resolutions will emulate some sort of extended graphics -card in the emulated ST giving you larger resolutions and a higher -colordepth in GEM. Select a resolution and color depth. Check to -activate. It will disable all other video options mentioned above. -Uncheck to get back to a normal ST behaviour.
-Note: Using an extended resolution will only work with GEM -conformant applications. 99% of all games and demos will not run if you -activate any extended resolution here. +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.

-

Click Capture Screen to create a -screenshot in PNG (or BMP) format to the current working directory or click -Record Animation to record a sequence of single -screenshots. You can opt to only record new movie frames when the -screen content really changed. +

+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 Screenshot button to create +a screenshot in PNG (or BMP) format to the current working directory +or click the Record AVI 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

+

The Keyboard Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the keyboard dialog + Hatari's GUI - 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 + 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 +

"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" + 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.

@@ -1697,15 +1442,19 @@ screen content really changed.

-

The Sound Dialog

+

The Sound Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the sound dialog + Hatari's GUI - the sound dialog

Here you can control the sound subsystem.

-

Check if you want emulated sound at all. Emulation is faster if +

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. @@ -1715,6 +1464,12 @@ sound emulation is turned off.

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 Browse button to choose a file. The file name extension that you use (.WAV or .YM) determines in which format @@ -1724,20 +1479,21 @@ sound emulation is turned off.

-

The Devices Dialog

+

The Devices Dialog

-Hatari's GUI - the device dialog + Hatari's GUI - the device dialog
-

Check the first checkmark to enable experimental printer support. -See the Emulated printer section for +

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 Browse to select the file to print to. You can enter a new filename as well.

-

Check the second checkmark to enable experimental RS232 support. +

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 @@ -1746,145 +1502,189 @@ emulated ST.

device files for serial input and output. On Linux a good choice is /dev/ttyS0 or /dev/ttyS1.

-

Check the third checkmark to enable experimental MIDI support. +

Check the third checkmark to enable MIDI support. Click on Browse 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 softare sound -synthetizing on Linux (using Alsa), if your sound card/driver doesn't -support MIDI, and how to set up MIDI networking between multiple +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

+

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:

+ + + +

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:

- - +
+ - - + + + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
ShortcutPurposeShortcutPurpose
ALTGR+arecord animationALTGR+arecord animation
ALTGR+ggrab a screenshotALTGR+ggrab a screenshot
ALTGR+iboss key: leave full screen mode, pause Hatari -and iconify its windowALTGR+iboss key: leave full screen mode, pause Hatari + and iconify its window
ALTGR+jtoggle joystick emulation via cursor keys -on/off between ports 0 and 1ALTGR+m(un-)lock the mouse into the window
ALTGR+m(un-)lock the mouse into the windowALTGR+r(warm) reset the ST
ALTGR+r(warm) reset the STALTGR+ccoldreset the ST (same as the original power switch)
ALTGR+ccoldreset the ST (same as the original power -switch)ALTGR+dopen dialog to select/change disk A
ALTGR+dopen dialog to select/change disk AALTGR+senable/disable sound
ALTGR+senable/disable soundALTGR+qquit the emulator
ALTGR+qquit the emulatorALTGR+xtoggle normal speed/fast forward
ALTGR+xtoggle normal speed/fast forwardALTGR+yenable/disable sound recording
ALTGR+yenable/disable sound recordingALTGR+ksave memory snapshot
ALTGR+ksave memory snapshotALTGR+lload memory snapshot
ALTGR+lload memory snapshotALTGR+jtoggle joystick emulation via cursor keys + on/off between ports 0 and 1
ALTGR+f or F11toggle between fullscreen and windowed modeALTGR+F1switch joystick type on joy port 0
ALTGR+o or F12activate the options GUIALTGR+F2switch joystick type on joy port 1
PAUSEpause emulationALTGR+F3switch joystick type for joypad A
AltGr+PAUSEinvoke the internal Hatari debuggerALTGR+F4switch joystick type for joypad B
ALTGR+f or F11toggle between fullscreen and windowed mode
ALTGR+o or F12activate the options GUI
PAUSEpause emulation
AltGr+PAUSEinvoke the internal Hatari debugger

You can change the key bindings from the Hatari configuration file. -The required key values can be seen in the SDL_keysym.h include file -(usually in /usr/include/SDL/).

+See keymap-sample.txt file for instructions.

-

Emulated Atari ST keyboard

+

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:

- - + +
+ - - + + + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + + - - + +
KeyMeaningKeyMeaning
Altwill act as the ST's ALTERNATE keyAltwill act as the ST's ALTERNATE key
left CTRLwill act as the ST's CONTROL keyleft CTRLwill act as the ST's CONTROL key
Print Screenwill emulate the ST's HELP keyPrint Screenwill emulate the ST's HELP key
Scroll Lockwill emulate the ST's UNDO keyScroll Lockwill emulate the ST's UNDO key
Page Upwill emulate the ST's ( key in the keypadPage Upwill emulate the ST's ( key in the keypad
Page Downwill emulate the ST's ) in the keypadPage Downwill emulate the ST's ) in the keypad
@@ -1894,30 +1694,40 @@ are used for the directions and +

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

+

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 +

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. +--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

+

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 @@ -1936,7 +1746,7 @@ cursorkeys in this mode as long as you p along with the cursorkeys. You can also configure these keys from the joystick options.

-

Emulated video

+

Emulated video

Hatari emulates all screen modes of the original machine.

@@ -1953,11 +1763,11 @@ 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

+

Emulated printer

-

Due to the fact that printer handling is very different between Unix -style machines and the Atari ST, emulation -of the printer is achieved by writing all printer output to a file.

+

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 @@ -1967,13 +1777,13 @@ in a messy data dump in the printer outp 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 on a PostScript printer, -you may set up a GDOS printer with a PostScript driver on the emulated -Atari and set your printer device file as Hatari's printer output.
-NOTE: This has not been tested yet and the Hatari team cannot -guarantee that it will work.

+

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

+

Emulated RS232

Serial communications in Hatari is designed to directly use a serial port on your PC.

@@ -1983,13 +1793,35 @@ the communication parameters like baudra 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. -Three types of disk images are currently supported: The raw "ST" type, -the similar "DIM" type and -the compressed "MSA" (Magic-Shadow-Archiver) type.

+Several types of disk images are currently supported : +

+ + +

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 @@ -2004,7 +1836,7 @@ or doesn't use a MSDOS compatible file system, this might fail. So be very careful if you are not sure about the disk format.

The other possibility is to image the disk on a real Atari ST. -There +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 @@ -2015,8 +1847,15 @@ Hatari-incompatible disk images. However 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.

-

While *.ST and *.MSA are more or less the "standard" types of Atari +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 @@ -2054,122 +1893,273 @@ your highscores and savegames are lost i a zipped disk image.

-

Hard disk support

+

Hard disk support

-Hatari supports three ways of emulating Atari hard drives: The low-level -ACSI and IDE hard disk emulation and a GEMDOS based drive emulation. -In most cases the GEMDOS based hard disk emulation is best as it allows +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 disk +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 disk emulation

-

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!

-

-There are also some known limitations which are due to the way the GEMDOS -drive emulation is implemented: First, it is not possible to use a cartridge -image together with GEMDOS drive emulation at the same time. -Second, the GEMDOS HD emulation does not work very well with TOS -1.00 and 1.02. So you should use at least TOS 1.04 if you want -to use the GEMDOS HD emulation. +

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: +

+ +

+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 hard disk 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 (e.g. from the Hatari website). -Please note that AHDI 5.0 is currently the only hard disk driver -that is officially supported. Other hard disk drivers might not work. -

-

-To create a new ACSI hard disk image, you can start with an empty image that -you have for example created with the following command: -dd if=/dev/zero of=hd.img bs=512 count=xxx. -Then copy the complete AHDI 5.0 package to a floppy disk image, and enable -this floppy disk image and the fresh hard disk image in the emulator. -Start HDX.PRG from the floppy disk and format and partition the hard disk -with this tool. When you're finished, you have to restart the emulated system, -run AHDI.PRG from the floppy disk and HINSTALL.PRG afterwards. -With HINSTALL.PRG you can install the hard disk driver to the fresh HD image, -so you can directly boot from the hard disk image in the future. +

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. +

+ -

IDE hard disk emulation

+

ACSI hard drive emulation

-Create an empty image file with the size of your choice with: +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 (named "cecile.st") e.g. with: -zip2st.sh cecile.zip. +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 hd.img cecile.st, -warm up your French language skills, start the Cecile hard disk driver -CECILE.PRG, then use the tool CC_TOOLS.APP to partition your hard disk -image: click to "Partition", select "Hatari IDE disk" and set suitable -partition size. Then click "Valider". +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: -select "Installer" from main menu and save the Cecile driver to the +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 AHDI 6 driver on it -instead (see "ASCI hard disk emulation" section for AHDI usage -instructions). +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 parameter. +with the --ide-master parameter.

-

Accessing disk image partitions outside of Hatari

+

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 partitions also outside the emulation, -the disk image needs to have a DOS partition table. The -atari-hd-image script included +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, Centek's Cecile (mentioned above) and Uwe Seimet's -HD Driver -(demo) work fine with them. E.g. AHDI and CBHD don't. +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.

-Note also that plain EmuTOS supports only ACSI and the drivers support -only IDE (emulation). Cecile needs TT or Falcon and HD driver doesn't -work with EmuTOS or TOS4. To summarise; if ASCI emulation and EmuTOS -are enough, use those. 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 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 @@ -2191,10 +2181,11 @@ drive c: file="/home/user/hatari/hd.img" 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: +the environment like this ("::" refers to the drive image given with +the "-i" option):

-MTOOLS_NO_VFAT=1 mcopy foobar.txt c:
+MTOOLS_NO_VFAT=1 mcopy -spmv -i hd.img files/* ::
 

Using a loopback device

@@ -2230,209 +2221,1890 @@ the disk image from Hatari: # losetup -d $loop -

The debugger

+ +

The debugger

Hatari has a built-in debugging interface which can be used for -analyzing the program that runs in the emulated system. The debugger -uses Hatari's parent console window, so make sure you run Hatari from -the command line when you want to use the debugger. To invoke -the debugger, press the AltGr + Pause key -combination. +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. +

-If you start Hatari with the "-D" command line option, m68k -exceptions will automatically invoke the debugger. You can toggle -this also later from the debugger with the "setopt -D" -command. +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.

-When entering values to the debugger in other number bases than the -default/selected one, they need to be prefixed with a character -indicating this. For decimals it's "#" (#15), for -hexadecimals "$" ($F), and for binary values it's -"%" (%1111). By default the debugger expects all values -without a prefix to be decimals, but you can change the default number -base with the "value" 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 +At the debugger prompt, type "help" to get a list of all the available commands and their shortcuts:

-Available commands:
-   dspaddress (da) : toggle or list (traditional) DSP address breakpoints
-     dspbreak (db) : set/remove/list DSP register/RAM condition breakpoints
-    dspdisasm (dd) : disassemble DSP code
-   dspmemdump (dm) : dump DSP memory
-       dspreg (dr) : read/write DSP registers
-      dspcont (dc) : continue emulation / DSP single-stepping
-      address ( a) : toggle or list (traditional) CPU address breakpoints
-   breakpoint ( b) : set/remove/list register/RAM condition breakpoints
+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
-      logfile ( f) : open or close log file
       loadbin ( l) : load a file into memory
-      savebin ( s) : save memory to a file
-       setopt ( o) : set Hatari command line options
-        value ( v) : set number base / show value in other number bases
+      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
-         quit ( q) : quit emulator
-         help ( h) : print help
+
+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. +

+

-In the beginning, probably the most interesting commands are -"m" and "d" for dumping and disassembling memory -regions. +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 [address]
+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 [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 postition is available.
+        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: +

+ + +

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): +

-> d
-0000aa6e: 2f08 0241 0fff 207c 00fe MOVE.L A0,-(A7)
-0000aa70: 0241 0fff 207c 00fe 78c0 AND.W #$0fff,D1
-0000aa74: 207c 00fe 78c0 2070 1000 MOVEA.L #$00fe78c0,A0
-0000aa7a: 2070 1000 4ed0 0241 0ffe MOVEA.L (A0, D1.W*1, $00) == $00fe34ae,A0
-0000aa7e: 4ed0 0241 0ffe 6712 e549 JMP.L (A0)
+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

-Hatari has two kinds of breakpoints. First, there are the fast and -simple address breakpoints which trigger when the CPU (or DSP) program counter -hits a given address. Use "a" (or "da" for the DSP) to -manage them. Then there are the conditional breakpoints which are a little bit -slower but can handle more complex break conditions. Use "b" (or -"db" for the DSP) to manage them. "b help" explains -the syntax: +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: +

-breakpoint = <expression> [ && <expression> [ && <expression> ] ... ]
-expression = <value>[.mode] [& <number>] <condition> <value>[.mode]
+> b help
+condition = <value>[.mode] [& <mask>] <comparison> <value>[.mode]
 
 where:
-      value = [(] <register-name | hatari-variable | number> [)]
-      number = [#|$|%]<digits>
-      condition = '<' | '>' | '=' | '!'
-      addressing mode (width) = 'b' | 'w' | 'l'
-      addressing mode (space) = 'p' | 'x' | 'y'
+        value = [(] <register/symbol/variable name | number> [)]
+        number/mask = [#|$|%]<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. +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
+ + + + +

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: +

+ + +

+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:

+ + +

+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
+
+ +
    +
  1. "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 +
  2. "program.ini" will setup breakpoint to program startup + (because TEXT variable cannot be used before TOS has booted) +
  3. "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 +
  4. "disable.ini" input file will disable tracing and remove + all (remaining) breakpoints +
+ +

Note:

+ + +

+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: +

+ +

+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 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:

+ + + +

Caller information

+

-M68k addresses can have byte ("b"), word ("w") or -long ("l", default) width. DSP addresses belong to different -address spaces: "P", "X" or "Y". Note -that on DSP only R0-R7 registers can be used for memory addressing. +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.

-

Examples:

+

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:

-pc = $64543  &&  ($ff820).w & 3 = (a0)  &&  d0 = %1100
-(r0).x = 1 && (r0).y = 2
-
+> 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.) +

-The debugger supports also setting breakpoints on values of some -internal Hatari variables (listed by "b help"). For example -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 "LineCycles" variable values. +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:

+ + + +

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:

+ + + +

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:

+ + +

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:

+ + +

Produced callgraph will look like this:

+
+ + Part of callgraph + +
+ +

Interpreting the callgraph:

+ + + +

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
+
+
+ Kcachegrind screenshot +
+ + +

Usage examples

-After analyzing 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 breakpoint triggers) if you omit the -instruction count. +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. +
+ +
+

-By the way, if you want to continue with real-time disassembling, you -can enable it by typing "setopt --trace cpu_disasm" at the -debugger prompt. Disable it with "setopt --trace none" when -you enter the debugger again. "--trace help" can be used to -list all the supported trace points. (Similar things can be done even -from a program within the emulation if you enable Hatari -"--bios-intercept" option and call XBios 255 from -the program with a suitable command line string.) +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 -editing support. 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 -this doesn't get enabled when you configure Hatari. +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

-

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. +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. Most of these options should -be needed only on slow devices like handhelds. +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

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! +an effect! They're enabled by default.

-
DSP
+

DSP

-Emulating the DSP is performance-wise several times more demanding +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 program needs DSP, none or +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
+ +

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 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. +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.

-
Compatible CPU
+ +

FDC

-After the DSP and Timer-D interrupts, m68k emulation takes most time. +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 @@ -2440,88 +4112,90 @@ 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 +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. For Compatible CPU one needs at least 1/2Ghz machine. +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.

+

-Above options may cause some programs not to work correctly. -The Hatari Software Compatibility List lists -programs known to need real DSP emulation or Timer-D frequency. +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

-Emulator options don't have as large effect on performance as +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
+

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 -(depending on other options you're using). 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. +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
+ +

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. 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 72Hz), 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. +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.

-
Low-rez zooming
+ +

Zooming

If you are not using frame skip, disabling zooming can have -noticeable improvement on performance. 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. +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
+ +

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 disable the Spec512 mode handling by zeroing the threshold for that -with the --spec512 0 option. -

-
Statusbar and drive LED
-

-If your version of libSDL uses VSync to synchronize the screen -output, drawing of the statusbar or the drive LED (when statusbar is -disabled) may have some minor impact on performance too. Normally -they shouldn't. +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

-Btw. 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. -

-

-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. +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

+

Measuring the performance

There are a couple of ways to monitor and measure Hatari performance. @@ -2538,30 +4212,30 @@ Hatari has also a facility to measure FP 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 show how many VBLs it could show per second along -with some other numbers. +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 actual Hatari performance. +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 +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 in fast forward mode 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. +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 the numbers can fluctuate quite a bit, especially +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 @@ -2569,9 +4243,9 @@ at the same time you're making the measu

-

Appendix

+

Appendix

-

Copying

+

Copying

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify @@ -2593,7 +4267,7 @@ Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, B Foundation | The GNU General Public License

-

Introduction to Emulation

+

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 @@ -2629,20 +4303,7 @@ emulation of the various custom chips an parts of the emulated system is much trickier.

-
+
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