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- Now there is one main program called JST (JOTDStartup) which loads the specific loader.
- It allows easier updates and debugging. It also allows easier programming of loaders.
-
- JST is included in this archive.
-
- JOTD HD Startup is © 1995-1997 Jean-François FABRE
- JOTDStartup is © 1997 Jean-François FABRE
-
- Please read this file. It's worth.
- You should also read the specific .readme file for the game you want to install. Some
- hints can help.
-
-
- OPTIONS:
-
- You can select the options:
-
- - From the CLI by typing the arguments (JST ? for help)
- - From the WB by activating/disabling the tooltypes
-
- Some have effect only on loaders that support them. They will be noted are *OPTIONAL*
- Some have effect on all loaders. They're noted as *GENERAL*
-
- Here's a short description of the options.
-
- - OBJNAME="object": lets you specify an object name (icon launch).
-
- - NTSC (GENERAL): default for loader is PAL. NTSC changes this to NTSC (really?)
-
- - TRAINER (OPTIONAL): activates trainer when there is one. It can be infinite lives, time, etc...
-
- - QUIET (GENERAL): displays nothing and opens no window. No error messages, and no author message.
- Be sure that everything works OK before selecting this one.
-
- - NOCACHES (GENERAL): Sets CACR to 0. All caches are disabled. 68060 supported.
-
- - NOFAST (GENERAL): If you got crap sprites, this could help.
-
- - HDLOAD (GENERAL): to save some memory, you can load from HD instead of caching all the files in RAM.
- It works for diskfiles and normal files.
- Useless in games with only 1 diskfile, use LOWMEM instead.
-
- - LOWMEM (OPTIONAL): will not cache diskfiles in memory. Read directly from disk. Useful if you've
- got a A1200/020/NoFast. With normal files, LOWMEM consumes even less memory than HDLOAD. Some
- loaders may bring up and error message. In that case they don't support this option yet.
-
- - NOOSSWAP (OPTIONAL): Disables in game HD loads/saves. Depending on the loaders, NOOSSWAP
- will try to access the floppy when you try to save/load a game, or will do nothing.
- If you don't select NOOSSWAP, if the game has some data to write, it will do it on your
- hard drive. It's rather safe (I've been using it for a while now) but you should avoid
- filesystems or disk caches that perform copyback caching (AFS, possible in Dynamicache).
- This is not generally harmful, except if you quit by a reset or the game locks. In that
- case, your hard drive can be unvalidated.
-
- - DELAY (GENERAL): Waits 2 seconds before starting the game. Useful if you've just saved the promotion
- prefs (the loader opens an intuition screen) on a screen promoter like NewMode. You only
- have to save it once, but if you don't specify DELAY the first time you run one of my loaders.
- Once the prefs saved to disk properly, you can remove the DELAY option. You can also edit
- a program, change its name to HDStartup in the promoter window and save (NewMode).
- You should not promote the HDStartup screen. It's useless and can create problems. You won't be
- able to run a PAL game in multiscan anyway...
- This DELAY option can also be useful for low speed media. It allows the drive to stop.
- For the moment, only the Pinball Dreams patch allows to use this option.
-
-
- Some options are here for debug and developpement purpose only:
-
- - DEBUG (GENERAL): useful only for bug reports. Makes a memory image on exit.
- - LEAVEVBR (GENERAL): useful only for debugging purposes, and with a debugger such as Action-Replay,
- HRTMon or ThrillKill. Don't select it unless you want to debug.
- - TEST (GENERAL): The loader will not start. Only the options selected will be displayed.
-
-
- Example from CLI:
-
- JST MagicPocketsHD NOCACHES DELAY NTSC
-
-
- PROBLEMS:
-
- Some error messages can occur before or after the game has started:
-
- - Not enough memory: try to free some memory. Playing with NOFAST and HDLOAD can help too.
-
- - Unsupported version: some games exist in different versions. I try to support some of them,
- but if the program does not recognize the version, it can display this message (it can crash too!).
-
- - Exception occured: some illegal instruction was encountered while the game executes. Try NOCACHES and
- NOFAST to see if it helps.
- - LINEF/MOVEP (68060) encountered: Same thing.
-
- - Wrong virtual disk ID: patch error. Contact author.
-
- - Diskfile not found: in HDLOAD mode, a file is missing.
-
- - GetDiskPointer called while in LOWMEM mode: LOWMEM is not possible with this loader.
-
-
- If the game simply hangs or resets, check that you don't have some MMU related program
- running (enforcer, VMM...) or low level patches like Fastexec. My patches are reported
- to work with softkicked amigas, though.
- The game can crash if it finds an exception and there is not enough memory to restore the
- system and display the exception message. Buy some more mem :-)
-
- DISCLAIMER:
-
- I'm not responsible for any damage caused directly or indirectly by this piece
- of software.
-
- DISTRIBUTION:
-
- My HD work can be distributed freely, but I'd appreciate that you drop me a line
- if you include it in a coverdisk or PD collection. If you like (or you dislike)
- this piece of software, you can e-mail me.
-
-
- However, FFD (France Festival Distribution) is not allowed to include it in any
- of its PD disks (if you read usenet in fr.comp.sys.amiga, you'll know why).
- It's the only exception for the distribution.
-
- ME:
-
- Visit my patch page, where all my HD work is gathered, along with some other
- quality installers (all for original software), and some other interesting
- freeware stuff:
-
- http://www.ensica.fr/~jffabre/patches.html
-
- And my home page (totally stupid stuff):
-
- http://www.ensica.fr/~jffabre/ (english)
- http://www.ensica.fr/~jffabre/index_fr.html (french)
-
- E-mail: jffabre@ensica.fr
-
-
- Jeff
-