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****************************************************************************** F E L L O W COMMODORE AMIGA EMULATOR By Petter Schau (pettersc@ifi.uio.no) Documentation and FAQ by Brett Eden (revere@sub.net.au) ****************************************************************************** **** PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE RUNNING FELLOW **** This archive contains a Fellow V0.3, (Incidently, don't be put off by the fact that this is only release 0.3, you'll be surprised how complete the emulation actually is :) Note: This file has not yet been updated to cover V0.3, readme.txt includes a short description of changes. (C) Petter Schau in 1996/1997. (pettersc@ifi.uio.no) The conditions for using and distributing this emulator: This program is free (public domain). While distributed for free, I allow unlimited distribution by anyone. No one is allowed to charge money for this program. If put on a hard medium like a CD (example), no charge exceeding the cost of the medium itself must be taken. If this is not acceptable, don't include this emulator. The emulator is provided "as is", to be used on your own risk. There are no expressed or implied useability for this program, and no obligations for the author to provide support or repairs in any ways. By using this program, you agree that the author can not be held responsible for any problems, disasters or virtual incarnations of such events arising from the use of this program. This is experimental software used at your own risk. If you can't accept this, don't use it. "AMIGA", "AmigaOS", "Kickstart" and "Workbench" are registered trademarks of Amiga International. Introduction ------------ Welcome to Fellow, a Commodore Amiga emulator for the IBM compatible PC. This documentation covers the usage and features of Fellow 0.2.1, aswell as information on how to configure it and use it to the fullest of it's capabilities. Fellow is similar to UAE, another Amiga emulator written by Bernd Schmidt and other contributors. Fellow is different in the way that it has been written specifically for MS-DOS in x86 assembly language, which provides a definite speed advantage over UAE, but at this stage it lacks many of UAE's features. Fellow works in very much the same way UAE does. If you've used UAE before, then you shouldn't have any problems using Fellow. If you want more information on Amiga emulation, you are strongly encouraged to consult the documentation for UAE, as it covers a lot which isn't covered here. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------- In order to run Fellow, your system must meet, or exceed, the following specifications: * An IBM compatible computer with a 486 or faster CPU * MS-DOS Version 5.00 or later * 11 Megabytes of RAM * A VGA Compatible video card * A Mouse It is RECOMMENDED that you have at least the following setup if you wish to get the most from Fellow: * An IBM Compatible computer with a 100MHz 486 or faster Pentium CPU * MS-DOS Version 5.00 or later * 16-20 Megabytes of RAM * A PCI (S)VGA compatible video, with VBE 2.0 support * Soundblaster or compatible sound card If your video card doesn't support VESA BIOS Extensions 2.0, you will need to try and obtain either a DOS VBE 2.0 driver for DOS specifically for your video card (try the manufacturers home page), or Scitech Display Doctor, available on the net. Without VBE 2.0 support, not all screen resolutions will be available when you run Fellow! Fellow is quite CPU intensive, and should you wish to play Amiga games at the intended "real Amiga" speed, you will require somewhere between a Pentium 133 -> 150 CPU and a fast PCI video card, other factors like RAM speed will also influence your results (keeping in mind that DIMM RAM is 12ns, compared to standard EDO/Non EDO SIMMs which operate at 60ns and 70ns respectively). BEFORE YOU WILL BEGIN - ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS ---------------------------------------------- Before you can use Fellow, you will need two things: A copy of an AmigaDOS Kickstart ROM, which is taken from a REAL Amiga. This file is extracted using a program called "TransROM", which is included with Fellow. USING TRANSROM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TransROM must be copied over to a real Amiga in order to extract a copy of the Kickstart ROM chip and capture it into a file. CLI> transrom >RAM:kick.rom Will copy the Kickstart ROM chip and write it into a file in RAM: called "kick.rom". That file must then be copied to the PC and into the Fellow directory (although it may be called from a different directory). You'll also need an "image" of a real Amiga floppy disk, containing the game/demo which you wish to run under Fellow. This is obtained using a program called "transdisk", and it is also included with Fellow. A PC's floppy drive cannot read an Amiga floppy disk, so to be able to use Fellow, you NEED a disk image of a real Amiga disk. USING TRANSDISK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Like TransROM, Transdisk must be copied over a real Amiga to be of any use. Transdisk is run from the AmigaDOS shell prompt, and will copy a floppy disk, track by track, into a file (which can be read by Fellow). CLI> transdisk >RAM:df0.adf Will make an image of any disk present in DF0:. The disk doesn't have to be named "df0.adf", you can use whichever name you feel is appropriate. COPYING FILES FROM PC -> AMIGA & AMIGA -> PC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Using a null-modem cable, you can do a Zmodem transfer between an Amiga and a PC. Simply plug the cable into a serial port on each machine, load up a terminal package such as Terminus, NComm or Term on the Amiga, or Terminate, Telemate, Telix (or HyperTerminal for Windows 95 if you insist) on the PC, and initiate a Zmodem upload on the Amiga. If you have it configured correctly (automatic ZModem download at the recieving end should be enabled), the PC will automatically accept this upload, and will download the software onto your PC's hard disk. For best results, obtain a copy of BaudBandit serial.device replacement for the Amiga, and set both ends to 57,600 Baud. BaudBandit should allow transfers of up to 5500cps to/from a 68000-based Amiga - it is available from AmiNET. If you're one of those people with an AmigaOS 1.2/1.3 A500, with only one floppy drive, you could be in trouble. Unless you have a Terminal package on a floppy disk which you can boot or use in a second drive, there's no way you can use a null-modem cable to talk to the PC (which is essential to actually get software like transdisk or transrom onto Amiga floppy). Your best bet would be to approach an Amiga user group, who may be able to supply you with such a disk, or if you're lucky, an Amiga shareware house/distributor in your area. Note: Some Amigas permit you to lock the serial port at 115,200 baud. This largely depends on the machine, it's motherboard revision, and it's processor. By locking the serial port at 115,200 baud on both the Amiga and the PC, you can effectively transfer files over a null-modem cable at over 10,100cps. 2. If you don't have a null-modem cable, or don't particularly want to buy one, you can transfer the Amiga software over the PC using a 720k PC floppy disk. Workbench 2.1+ come bundled with CrossDOS, which is software which allows you to read PC 720k disks in your Amiga's floppy drive. If you don't have CrossDOS (i.e., you don't have access to Workbench 2.1 or higher), you can also use MessyDOS which is located at on Aminet. Here's a step by step guide on how to transfer software by floppy. i) Obtain a 720k PC diskette. Format it either on your PC, or on the Amiga using CrossDOS. ii) Create either an .ADF file or Kickstart ROM image using the method described above. iii) Archive this file using either LhA or Zip (Make sure you have these on the PC, so you can unarchive them when you take the disk over). iv) Copy the archive to the 720k diskette, using CrossDOS or MessyDOS. v) Take the diskette over to the PC, copy the archive to the hard-disk, and unarchive it. Copy the Kickstart ROM image or .ADF file to the Fellow directory and you're ready to go! INSTALLING AND RUNNING FELLOW ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fellow is invoked simply by running FELLOW.EXE from the DOS prompt. After doing so, you will be presented with a menu screen. The middle section displays about disks which are presently assigned to floppy drives, and wether the Kickstart ROM is present or not. In the top right of the screen, is a menu system which is broken down as follows: RUN ~~~ Selecting this option will begin Amiga emulation mode, and the emulator will attempt to boot any diskfile which you have assigned to drive DF0: DEBUGGER ~~~~~~~~ "Execute next" - Executes the next instruction (step 1 instruction forward) "Run through loop" - Sets a breakpoint at the next instruction, and the emulator will run until that instruction is reached. (Useful for skipping over loops and jsr/bsr instructions) "Run until breakpoint" - Provides two options: "Run until breakpoint" - Allows you to enter the address of instruction where execution is to be stopped. "Until line 312" - Will run until line 312 (raster beam pos) is reached. "Memory dump" - View memory in hex format, Arrows up and down and Page Up/Down to move around. "CIA Register Dump" - Prints the state of the registers in the CIA chips. "IO Register Dump" - Print state of the registers of the custom chips. CONFIGURATION ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The configuration menu is broken up into a number of smaller options, which permit you to toggle and alter various aspects of the Amiga emulation. "DiskImage in DF(x):" - Where (x) is either 0, 1, 2 or 3, these options allow you to assign virtual disk files to any of the Amigas 4 floppy disk drives. When you launch the emulator, it will be required that a disk image is assigned to DF0: if you wish it to boot. "Disk-transfer speed" - Allows you to select the speed at which the virtual disk files are read from the floppy drive. Permittable values are x1, x2, x4, x8, x16, x32, x64, x128, x256, x512, x1024 and x2048. Some disks may fail to boot or may not boot correctly if not done so at x1. "Chip Memory Size" - Allows you to decide how much CHIP RAM will be emulated. Permittable values range between 256KB and 2048KB. "Fast Memory Size" - Allows you to decide how much FAST RAM will be emulated. Permittable values range between 1 MB to 8 MB. Don't expect "Fast" to make a difference in speed, this is after all a software emulation. "Bogo Memory Size" - Allows you to decide how much Bogo RAM (sometimes called Slow ram) will be emulated. This is a third type of memory, those expansion memory cards that used to be installed in the opening in the bottom of an Amiga 500. Permittable values range between 0KB and 1792KB. "Joystick Port 1" - "DISABLED" - No equipment emulated. "Mouse" - The PC-mouse movements are forwarded to the Amiga port. "PC-Joystick" - An analog PC Joystick controls this port. "Arrowkeys" - Arrow keys with CTRL as firebutton 1 and Right ALT as firebutton 2. Works as a joystick replacement in the port. "DFG R" - Joystick replacement 2, 'D' is left, 'F' is down, 'G' is right, 'R' is up, Left CTRL is firebutton 1, left ALT is firebutton 2. "Joystick Port 2" - (As per Joystick Port 1) "Skipframe Ratio" - Allows you to choose the number of frames which will be displayed during emulation. If you find a game or demo which runs too slow on your machine, skipping every 2nd or 3rd frame will speed things up, but at the cost of smoothness in display. "Enable LEDs" - Allows you to enable/disable green LEDs at the top of the Fellow display which will emulate the read/ write disk lights from the Amiga floppy drive. "CPU/Blitter Speed" - Controls the clock frequency of the emulated CPU and blitter behaviour. "Normal" - standard A500, 7.09MHz M68000. Blitter operations will take normal time to finish and possibly stop M68000 emulation during that time like on a real Amiga. "Max" - approximate emulation is a 28MHz M68000, with blitter operations finishing instantly. This will slow the emulator down. "Sound" - Enables/Disables sound emulation. Available options being "None" for no sound, "Experimental mode" for new sound emulation which will try and play sound continously without interruption on slower machines and "Maximum Compatibility Mode" for original and more compatible sound emulation. "Sound Quality" - Selects the quality of the sound emulation, and exactly which option you will choose will depend on the speed of your machine and which sound hardware you have available. Possible options are: 15,650Hz 8 bit mono 22,050Hz 8 bit mono 31,300Hz 8 bit mono 44,100Hz 8 bit mono 15,650Hz 8 bit stereo 22,050Hz 8 bit stereo 31,300Hz 8 bit stereo 44,100Hz 8 bit stereo Same also in 16-bit. On older cards some will be unavailable. "Print Speed" - Prints the % speed of real Amiga being emulated by your machine. Figure is displayed on the top right side of the Fellow display. This is relative to the 50 frames/s normally produced by an Amiga 500. ROM File - Allows you to choose the location of the AmigaOS ROM image (which is required to run programs which boot Workbench, or to book Workbench itself). Choosing this option will present you with a simple file-requester, with which to choose the ROM file. Fellow will look for "kick.rom" as default. VGA Resolution - Used to select the resolution in which Fellow will run. Some of these modes may require VBE 2.0 (see further down). Possible modes are 800x300, 640x480, 640x400, 640x350, 320x240, 320x200 using 32k or 64k colours, 320x200 using 256 colours. Interlace - Will de-interlace an interlace resolution on an 800x600 SVGA-screen. Since every second line is drawn on each update, heavy movement will appear slightly fuzzy. Maximum Frame Frequency - For machines which will emulate an Amiga _too_ quickly, making games run faster than 50Hz (which is the standard Amiga frame rate). Options here are "Unlimited", which will leave the emulator to emulate as fast as it can, "50Hz", which will pull the framerate down to the proper Amiga level, and "Use Sync from VGA card", which will try to run the emulator at the framerate of the current VGA-mode. This may be useful for VERY fast machines. NOTE: This setting is ignored when sound is played in Maximum compatibility mode. Command-line interface ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All configuration options are available on the command-line as well. GETTING STARTED - A BASIC GUIDE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once you've copied an Amiga Disk into an .adf file, and transferred it over to your PC, run Fellow and assign this disk image to DF0: If this is a Workbench disk, make sure you have copied your Kickstart ROM into a file and have it situated in the Fellow directory, and named as "kick.rom". If the Kickstart is not present, Fellow will bypass the normal Amiga bootstrap and try to boot anyway. This works with some demos and games which ignore the Kickstart-routines and handle everything on their own. You may have to select "RESET" to enable this after inserting a disk-image. Select the amount of RAM you wish to use, configure sound emulation to suit your hardware, and select "RUN" from the main menu. All things being well and good, Fellow should boot your disk image. Some options are run-time controllable: To change resolutions, press PGUP or PGDOWN. To center the display in lores VGA modes, press END to activate manual centering. Use keypad-arrows to center. END once more returns the keypad to normal operation. Default centering is the AmigaDOS default position of the Workbench-screen. Other keys with meaning during emulation: F11 - Dumps the screen onto a BMP image. F12 - Halt emulation and return to the GUI. Options can be changed, like inserting a new disk-image, and then resume emulation. Beware that changing some options will force a reset without warning. (Memory sizes and kickstart-image.) This document was prepared by Brett Eden (yes, the one you all love to hate, for some reason or another). I can be contacted at revere@sub.net.au, for questions, or any such like.