WHDLoad Booter (WHDBooter) F.A.Q.
WHDLoad is a software package for the Amiga platform to make installation of software such as games to a hard disk easier, where the original software relied on customised loading routines, specifically for Floppy drives.
This gives much higher compatibility for Amiga software, which can sometimes have hardware incompatibilities making them hard to use in emulated environments due to the widely varying hardware specifications of the Amiga product line across its history. WHDLoad circumvents the operating system in the Amiga for greater compatibility and preserves the original program environment.
WHDLoad carries a number of benefits which make it ideal for an emulated game-playing environment, including:
- No disk-swapping required
- Considerably fast loading times
- Individual game bug-fixes
- Additional save support (including high-scores etc)
- Timing Fixes
- Additional controller support (CD32 or 2 button modes)
- Additional game features including palette fixes
WHDLoad performs these tasks by using game-data 'ripped' from the original disks, and a bespoke '.slave' file for each game, which contains game-specific code to apply patches on the original game in order to perform the above functions. Specific game slaves are more developed than others, and the full details of the functions of each are available via the WHDLoad project pages.
Further information on WHDLoad, and the individual game slaves (including regular updates) and main documentation and bug submission systems, is available from (www.whdload.de).
JST was a similar program to WHDload around 1998 or so, and initially developed at the same time, for the same task - installing custom-loader games to Hard Drive via game code patching.
JST was developed by Jean Francois-Fabre, also known as JOTD. Jean-Francois did notice that WHDload was more developed however, and ceased developing the project, choosing, not long after (and still to this day) to instead codes WHDLoad slaves himself.
There should be no need to support JST installs in this project, since all of the JST loaders were ported directly to WHDLoad.
The WHDload booter is combination of custom applications and AROS replacement O.S. files that allow Amiberry to directly load the contents of pre-installed WHDLoad packages.
Each archive must contain a single top-level folder, in which one or more .slave files are located. This folder can then be scanned and a slave file selected for 'fast loading' on the next load, which is done by creating an 'auto-startup' file for the specific package.
My WHDLoad package doesnt seem to be supported? I experience an error on load such as 'no slave file found' or 'archive contains multiple folders'
The booter has been designed for compatibility with the 'RetroPlay' pre-installed packages. Although other installed packages are available, this distribution contains every official WHDLoad slave to-date in a universal format. Unofficially produced packages may not follow the standardised format and therefore cannot be loaded by the booter. It may be advisable to request an official installer be created for the game if required.
The Amiberry game database (XML) is updated every 3 days for new games, and every week for minor updates.
The latest XML can be automatically downloaded within Amiberry's Paths panel.
I'd like to contribute to the wider Project with some game-specific fixes, game-name corrections, etc
That's good. You've taken your first step into a larger world.
This project is all about continuous improvement, and feedback from the users which will improve the experience for everyone is key to that. If you have tweeked or improved settings for any game, whether that be adding memory requirements, switching to 'mouse' control, or setting you have simply found that the name the game is spelt incorrectly, then you have something of value to contribute.
The automatic script for updating the Amiberry games database is held at: https://github.com/HoraceAndTheSpider/Amiberry-XML-Builder/ and everyone is welcome to contribute to this.
Thanks come from all of the developers for anyone who submits information in this way, and you may even find yourself on a Hall of Fame!
I get an error on loading certain games about 'kick' files not being available. What does this mean?
Certain games required specific Kickstart ROM(s) to be available from within the Amiga environment in order to aid compatibiltiy. Amiberry will create links to these files for the booter, by scanning the available files specified in your 'kickstarts' path (see the 'Paths' panel)
You can read more information on which files are required / compatibile here:
- https://github.com/midwan/amiberry/wiki/Kickstart-ROMs-(BIOS)
- https://github.com/midwan/amiberry/wiki/WHDLoad-Auto-booting
I have issues with my controller not being correctly selected by-default on loading each game, and/or I would like to use a real mouse/specific controller for mouse games. How do I do this?
To specifiy which controller is used you will need to edit the hostprefs.conf file as detailed here: https://github.com/midwan/amiberry/wiki/WHDLoad-Auto-booting
joy1 should be selected to use the first available joystick on the system. Note however that selecting a controller that is not available to the syste (e.g. joy3) will cause Amiberry to revert to default settings. Either mouse or joy1 can be selected on the CONTROLLER_MOUSE_1 option depending on whether you prefer to use a real mouse or a controller for mouse-based games.
joy0 should be used if you wish to use the emulated 'keyboard as joystick' controller.
I have issues with the controller I have selected. I am able to access the Amiberry menu via 'F12' but cannot use START+SELECT to quit, or START+NORTH for the menu.
Please refer to the specific guidance on this Wiki for controller setups:
- https://github.com/midwan/amiberry/wiki/Setting-up-Input-Controllers
- https://github.com/midwan/amiberry/wiki/RetroArch-Commands
Yes - see hostprefs.
My favourite game EJ's Irish Adventure (or similar) requires the use of the keyboard for one or two buttons only, such as 'space' to open a door. Is there any way of mapping these to the other joypad buttons?
One way would be to request the WHDLoad slave author removes 'keyboard dependency' from the game, with either 2 button or CD32 Pad control support. Request this via the Mantis Bugtracker (mantis.whdload.de) , and/or the WHDLoad.de info page for the individual game. (www.whdload.de).
However, in built custom controls are also available in Amiberry.
I am loading my games from the RetroPie distribution. I click games in the listing but they don't load. Either I have a black screen or I am just seeing the Amiga Kickstart or Amiga DOS (blue) screen.
Please check that you are using a compatible pre-installed LHA file (and not, for example, a ZIP file).
Also check that any ownership permissions have been reset on your files if you have copied directly onto your SD card.
If using the RetroPie distribution, it does include an option for this in it's own settings/config menus called "Restore Ownership of /pi/roms" or similar.
You can do this manually from the command line (i.e. via SSH, or from exiting RetroPie) with the following;
sudo chown -hR pi:pi /home/pi/RetroPie
There are various possible causes of these problems, but two menu panels from which these issues might be resolved - both are for the setup of Amiga being emulated (sadly even on the real hardware backwards compatibility was not great, although WHDLoad does a lot to level the playing field), and coupled with the accuracy of emulation for this often timing-sensitive machine, incorrect settings can cause issues with some games.
Using F12 (or whatever key/button has been set for bring up the emulator menu) you should try some of the alternative settings in the CPU and Chipset menus to see if they can resolve the issue. If so, you should submit your changes to the online database so that they will filter into future XML files.
If you remain unable to resolve issues/glitches, please report them via the 'issues' section of the Amiberry GitHub.
I have changed an individual game's settings with the emulator menu, how do i make sure these are reloaded next time i play the game?
Simply save the .uae file from the Configurations panel of Amiberry, and this file (Created by matching the .uae file with the loaded .lha file) will automatically be set when you next load the game, bypassing any XML or .WHD stored settings.
If you no longer require a setting file to be loaded, simply delete it using the Configurations panel also.
Please note that .whd configuration files are considered deprecated and are no longer supported.
These options can be set up the user with the .uae configuration for the game. More details are available via:
Only the 'first' controller connected to the system, or alternatively the mouse, keyboard (cursors) or touch controls are currently supported for menu navigation.
- First Installation
- RetroPie Installation
- Kickstart ROMs (BIOS)
- Upgrading to the latest version
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Default Options
- Supported Platforms