CPCEmu v3.0 (April 2025)

[Emu]

Can confirm that M4 board emulation works now (means creating & deleting or diving into folders) in "image mode".

Thank you for being perseverant! Just for clarity: Using AMSDOS, the M4 SD card is always emulated "live". The distinction between "image" and "live" mode is only related to SymbOS, the latter directly accessing the FAT file system on the SD card by reading and writing its sectors.

In image mode, the host SDCARD folder ist compiled into an image file called VSD.IMG. All sectors are read from and written into this file. At the end (reset, exit) all files from the image file that are newer than in the host SDCARD folder are extracted into the latter.

In live mode, all sectors are translated to and from host files on-the-fly. I'm afraid that this is impossible without collisions. In this particular case, one practical problem is that SymbOS appears to keep a certain amount of directory sectors in a cache. Therefore, the translation by CPCemu needs to be consistent between subsequent reads and writes. Which is a bit difficult if, on the other hand, modified and new files in the host file system should be visible within SymbOS as soon as possible. Because of the caching it can become necessary to overflow the cache (e. g., looking into a folder with many files in it, the folder being different from the one where the modified/new host files are) to see host-side modifications from within SymbOS. Bad things happen if SymbOS is writing a file of the same name as a new host file before SymbOS has refreshed its cache.

SymbOS still doesn't work. Either the mass storage or the disc version (I created a freshly installation) nor the discs (small boot disc or hybrid). And it doesn't matter which RAM config I have chosen (128k, 512k or 576k)
Out of curiosity I installed a new Windows 11 (AND a Window 7 version) in VirtualBox with a different username (because of the assumption of the hyphen in the username). But still the same behaviour as in my original Win11.
SymbOS boots up to the desktop and then crashes...

I just tried it in Windows 7, too, 5 Minutes ago. It did work, both from disk and from SD card.

Have you used fresh SymbOS downloads? My only idea is that you used "used" files (that had been subject to the "live" mode at least once).
 

[Emu]

By the way: would it be possible to expand the Debugger Monitor to an external window?

For the desktop versions, yes, I think so. Might be a good idea.

[HAL6128]

I just tried it in Windows 7, too, 5 Minutes ago. It did work, both from disk and from SD card.

Have you used fresh SymbOS downloads? My only idea is that you used "used" files (that had been subject to the "live" mode at least once).
 

I always downloaded a fresh version from internet and extracted it into directly the folder of the %APPDATA%\ROAMING\CPCEMU\SDCARD 

[Emu]

SymbOS boots up to the desktop and then crashes...

Can you set CPCemu to 128k RAM (don't forget to restart), boot from "SymbOS-CPC40-Boot.dsk" with the M4 board disabled and make a 128k snapshot to post it here?

I have attached such a snapshot. What happens if you open it?

[HAL6128]

Ok, deactivating M4, setting to 128k RAM and booting from the disc works fine!

[Emu]

Ok, deactivating M4, setting to 128k RAM and booting from the disc works fine!

That's a 64k snapshot only.

So, if you enable M4 (the rest staying the same), the disk does not boot anymore? What if you make the SD card empty?

Or, if you set RAM size to 576k (the rest staying the same), the disk does not boot?

[HAL6128]

Funnily it worked after enabled the M4 option. SymbOS booted correctly into main desktop.

Setting the RAM size to 576k afterwards leads to a crash.

[HAL6128]

Second test with SDCARD empty... and 576k RAM size leads to a proper booting of SYMBOS into the enhanced Desktop.

[HAL6128]

Your snapshot above works fine.

[Emu]

Setting the RAM size to 576k afterwards leads to a crash.

When did you change the RAM size? Did you restart emulation after that? If so, when did it crash? After the splash screen? Only when booting SymbOS?

So, summarizing the current situation, booting SymbOS from disk works now both with and without M4 (with M4 only if SDCARD is empty) and both with 128k and 576k. Correct?

On the other hand, if you copy the contents of "SymbOS-CPC40-MassStorage" into "SDCARD", SymbOS still crashes after the start menu appears. Correct? If so, can you post a 128k (if 128k RAM size) or otherwise a 128k+ snapshot of the crashed system?

[HAL6128]

I changed the RAM size after booting 128k test and restarted the Emulator. The booting process stops always when the desktop taskbar on the bottom appears and then stops (no desktop symbols are loaded).

So, summarizing the current situation, booting SymbOS from disk works now both with and without M4 (with M4 only if SDCARD is empty) and both with 128k and 576k. Correct?

Yes.

On the other hand, if you copy the contents of "SymbOS-CPC40-MassStorage" into "SDCARD", SymbOS still crashes after the start menu appears. Correct? If so, can you post a 128k (if 128k RAM size) or otherwise a 128k+ snapshot of the crashed system?

I copied a new downloaded "MassStorage" content into the SDCARD folder and it crashed with the same 128k configuration which worked before (the disc one).

Attached the 128k Snapshot of the crashed system.

[Emu]

Attached the 128k Snapshot of the crashed system.

The first thing that struck my attention is that your CPC was freezed when executing instructions in ROM 48. Do you have any such ROM configured?

The memory seems to be garbled somehow. Many places (with typical text strings) are offset compared to my snapshot. There are some data tables in your video ram, where they obviously don't belong.

One other thing: When I asked for the point of time when the crashed happened after changing to 576k RAM size I meant the crash of CPCemu (not of SymbOS) of which you posted the message-box screenshot above. Do you remember when it did happen?

And, another question: You wrote the boot process always stops with the taskbar, but without desktop symbols. How do you get to the situation in your snapshot (garbled screen) then? Just wait? Or open the start menu?

[GUNHED]

Did you try is with FutureOS?

Yes, but I did only a basic check if FutureOS can read the contents of the HD20. It does display the directory and also starts files (even without the X-DDOS ROM).

Thanks a lot for testing!   Great to see the HD20 being supported! 

btw: FutureOS does not need other ROMs / software to work, so it's a good test for the emulation to see how faithfully the hardware is emulated and not only the 'included' software of an expansion. 

[HAL6128]

The first thing that struck my attention is that your CPC was freezed when executing instructions in ROM 48. Do you have any such ROM configured?

No, I didn't change anything regarding ROMs after installation of CPCEmu (only activated M4 / config of RAM size)

One other thing: When I asked for the point of time when the crashed happened after changing to 576k RAM size I meant the crash of CPCemu (not of SymbOS) of which you posted the message-box screenshot above. Do you remember when it did happen?

Oh, sorry. CPCEmu didn't crashes, was always reactive. I've always meant SymbOS as system.

And, another question: You wrote the boot process always stops with the taskbar, but without desktop symbols. How do you get to the situation in your snapshot (garbled screen) then? Just wait? Or open the start menu?

Ok, let me explain:

• config = empty SDCARD folder & 128k RAM & M4 enabled & SymbOS-CPC40-Boot.dsk >> this config starts correctly into SymbOS (total of 128k RAM in SymbOS available)
• conifg = empty SDCARD folder & 512k RAM & M4 enabled & SymbOS-CPC40-Boot.dsk >> this config starts correctly into SymbOS with e.g. background and sound daemon enabled (total of 448k RAM in SymbOS available)
• config = same config as 1. but with a filled SCDARD (unzipped fresh SymbOS masstorage files into that folder) >> this config creates a garbled screen (SymbOS crashed)
• config = same config as 2. but with a filled SDCARD (as 3.) >> this config creates a SymbOS-Desktop with a taskbar and then stops / freezes then. I can't do anything.

[Emu]

3. config = same config as 1. but with a filled SCDARD (unzipped fresh SymbOS masstorage files into that folder) >> this config creates a garbled screen (SymbOS crashed)
4. config = same config as 2. but with a filled SDCARD (as 3.) >> this config creates a SymbOS-Desktop with a taskbar and then stops / freezes then. I can't do anything.

I'm reluctant to ask, but I need to check: Are you sure you have copied all files extracted from "SymbOS-40-MassStorageCompletion.zip" into the symbos folder? I can only reproduce your crash/freeze of SymbOS if I solely copy the files from "SymbOS-CPC40.zip" into the SDCARD folder (but not the mass-storage completion files).