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Fixes & enhancements for WLL.COM


Drugwash

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The animation routine still has its quirks, apparently. I've had a crash too in SVGACOM today, although I haven't changed anything in that routine since last time. Happened under Windows, on my main machine, after I had run certain applications. However, after a reboot, I started it again and it worked correctly.

Offler, I tested LogoTool on your bitmap - it's a jewel. ;) And heck, I managed to fix the not-updating edit boxes.

So - while there's no major change in WLL code today (apart from fixing a missing registry restore)...

I present you WLL.COM with the improved LogoTool v1.0.1.0 (this package contains SVGACOM too).

Tihiy, I'm working on the WLL installer/uninstaller. :)

Edited by Drugwash
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i have identified one trouble:

when i turn on the computer for the first time (turn on power button), system will surely freeze during bootup while using wll. after next reset (with reset button) it will boot correctly. Reason still unknown :( all i know that system will freeze at same line in bootlog:

[0009456D] Starting Hlavný rozbočovač USB (USB\ROOT_HUB\PCI&VEN_1106&DEV_3038&SUBSYS_30381106&REV_62&BUS_00&DEV_09&FUNC_01)

i try some bios settings to fix this. maybe related with irq, while this device use large amount of them.

fixed: i have set IRQ in BIOS for usb...

Edited by Offler
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Offler, it would be useful if you could specify which WLL version you're testing and which are you having troubles with. Tihiy's version has a small buffer value (512 bytes) while mine takes 2048 (2kB) and also has extra code related to the animation routine. Any of those differences may lead to different behavior on certain machines.

On another note, I've had no feedback related to LogoTool: did anyone test it yet? Is it working correctly? Any bugs or feature requests? :unsure:

Oh and to my shame :blushing: , I've always forgot to mention that the LogoTool idea is entirely holli's so I think he should get the deserved credit for it. Thank you very much holli for the excellent idea! :thumbup I hope you like LogoTool! :)

I'm still considering the palette storage for the coordinates, but I first wanted to have the animation routines and LogoTool established and working - changes can be made afterwards, if palette usage is proven harmless.

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for now i have only tested tihiys version, and base version from RP pack, because i had even trouble to get wll work correctly. now i have to re-read whole topic here because i miss some info (i forget it) how to get work svgacom along with wll.

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It would help if you downloaded my pack above and read the readme files carefully.

It is explained - and I said that through this thread too - that SVGACOM.COM is just the animation part of WLL.COM and is intended solely for the purpose of testing the animation routine that I have slightly modified regarding progressbar coordinates' source.

SVGACOM.COM can be run in Windows mode or in DOS mode, manually, but it will not do anything else but display the animated logo. On a keypress, it will exit. That's all.

When testing it under Windows, please do so right after a fresh reboot, as in some rare cases it may corrupt the video memory, after some other applications have run - I couldn't find a pattern here, as it only happened to me twice in all the tests I've performed.

In my package there is also a fully working WLL.COM, based on my version of SVGACOM.COM, with Tihiy's latest timer changes added in. I have this version installed on my main machine.

Also there is LogoTool, a neat little application written in AutoHotkey (the AH script is included, of course), that allows one to quickly patch their bitmaps with the progressbar coordinates, to make it work with my version of SVGACOM/WLL.

They all need testing, otherwise I'm working in vain here. :unsure:

[EDIT] While working on the installer, I noticed a weird instability in the FindWin procedure. I copied it entirely from WLL only with minor changes to a couple of labels. While testing under Windows, it would randomly fail. As the respective code is not implemented yet, I put text display instead of the install and uninstall routines and while running the very same compiled code a few times in a row, I would sometimes get 'Uninstall succesful' and sometimes 'Couldn't find the Windows folder'. I wonder how could the very same file yield different results when run a few subsequent times in the same environment? :unsure: Could this be the reason for the random hangs at startup with WLL?

Edited by Drugwash
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so the first complete test of svgacom... (actual version)

at first reboot the logo appeared normally, but later the image corrupted (maybe due my graphics card). system freezed

On second same behaviour but system booted sucessfully.

on third no logo appeared

on fourth logo appeared but freezed without corruption but system freeezed...

i have no point where i can indentify the problem. two problems regarding original and tihiys wll appeared - buffers and graphic driver...

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I need a drink, maybe that would help me understand something... :blink:

1. SVGACOM DOES NOT BOOT INTO WINDOWS! WLL does!

So if you think that copying SVGACOM.COM to C: or C:\Windows would make the system boot with it, you're completely wrong. It will still use the current WLL.COM in C:\Windows and any errors you receive will be due to that module, not SVGACOM.

2. SVGACOM ONLY TESTS THE ANIMATION ROUTINE!

This is useful for logo creators and/or code debuggers.

3. CORRECT WAY OF TESTING SVGACOM:

a ) Testing in DOS mode:

- boot into DOS mode (press F8 during boot -> Command prompt only)

- go to SVGACOM's directory and start SVGACOM.COM

- observe its behavior; let it animate for as long as you like (if it does display anything, that is)

- press a key to exit animation

- repeat the above steps in a ) for as many times as you like

Please note that testing under Windows is not absolutely necessary - it's just for convenience, in case you change something in the code or in your logo bitmap and wanna see the result. As the code is meant to run in DOS mode at boot time, any errors while running it under Windows are not much relevant, unless it screws Windows up badly.

b ) Testing under Windows:

- boot into Windows normally but try not to start any applications except strictly necessary ones; resident antivirus or similar services should temporarily be disabled

- go to SVGACOM's folder and start SVGACOM.COM

- observe its behavior; let it animate for as long as you like (if it does display anything, that is)

- press a key to exit animation

- note any abnormal behavior afterwards, such as video corruption, hangs, instant reboots (God forbid), etc.

- if everything goes well, repeat the above steps in b ) for as many times as you like

Below there's a test version of the WLL code - everything else is unchanged from the previous version posted above. I have added a loop that checks for the Windows directory for a maximum of 50 times after which it bails out. If it won't find the directory or will find the reference to it in a wrong place (that's what I suspect), the usual freeze will occur. Later on I may add some more debugging code, to see where exactly the freeze occurs.

I might need some help for the correct understanding of the FindWin procedure.

Test version of WLL.COM

Edited by Drugwash
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i have tried your package with instwll.bat and your logo sys... the behaviour described is linked with this type of installation... from the previous post i thought you have imported to tihiys wll your code... if not sorry.

i have read readme.txt from your package and have done all as described there and the result is that freezing behaviour...

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My WLL has always been synced with Tihiy's and it's obviously based on his code. You may compare the scripts if you want.

However, I have added a lot of code for the progressbar coordinates feature and the last version above has an extra loop trying to catch the freezing bug.

Please note that the IO.SYS and COMMAND.COM found in the package are for English version of Win98SE (4.10.2222A).

I am currently working on a universal installer for any version of Windows 95 and 98 (not sure if ME is worth the bother) so each system will keep its original files, which will be patched in place.

You may wanna replace the English files with the Slovak (sorry for the earlier mistake) ones from Tihiy's RP7 package, files that are already patched for use with WLL.

Please test the above version of WLL.COM and tell me if freezing still occurs and if the rate is the same as before or not (how many freezes in how many boot attempts).

Edited by Drugwash
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So you're saying it's hanging when searching for winbootdir variable?

That's the first time i've heard of it. It may happen randomly? With specific DOS settings?

Weird code :rolleyes:

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can be your wlll used with standard unpatched io and command com from win98se (or older systems such as win95)? i am asking because i want to keep my slovak (not czech) files...

Unpatched command.com/io.sys will start win.com instead of wll.com, so no, it can't be used. What you can try doing is to open these files (after backing them up and creating a bootdisk, of course) in a Hexadecimal Editor and replace every instance of "WIN.COM" with "WLL.COM" and test.

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can be your wlll used with standard unpatched io and command com from win98se (or older systems such as win95)? i am asking because i want to keep my slovak (not czech) files...
No, they need to be patched. I'm working on such patcher but I'm hindered by some stubborn code, added to my lack of knowledge. You may however do as alexanrs mentioned above. I have used the XVI32 editor for this job.
So you're saying it's hanging when searching for winbootdir variable?

That's the first time i've heard of it. It may happen randomly? With specific DOS settings?

Weird code :rolleyes:

Yes, this happens under Windows. I have copy/pasted the respective procedure (with all associated variables and stuff) and on running the compiled file a lot of times subsequently, it sometimes yielded the right result and other times I'd get 'Windows folder not found' (that was a debug string display).

I never understood what exactly that routine is meant to do anyway, except for searching for some wininit.ini file, which is not present on my computer. I guess there has to be some other way of getting the working WinDir - I was thinking of MSDOS.SYS, as it contains WinBootDir=C:\Windows; would it be OK to use it or would there be problems with multiboot environments, virtual machines and such? I can't test such complex configurations here on my limited hardware. :unsure:

I would have done this patcher in AutoHotkey just like LogoTool, but the uninstall should work in pure DOS mode, should anything bad happen preventing Windows from booting.

Edited by Drugwash
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