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This is a list of possible problems that users may find, and in some cases solutions. If you find a problem which is not listed here you may wish to visit the WinSTon BBS for more help. |
You will need to get a disc image file, see What is a Disc Image? for details, and then click on the left-most floppy disc icon in the WinSTon toolbar. In the file select dialog which will now open locate the disc image and click on OK. You will now be asked if you wish
to reset the emulator - click OK and WinSTon will boot the inserted disc image. |
To insert a Disc Image without resetting the emulator simply click on the arrow next to the Floppy Disc icon in the toolbar. This will drop down a menu giving you the option to insert the image and not cause a reset. You may also hold down the SHIFT key while clicking on one of the Floppy Disc icons to prevent the reset. |
Trying to emulate another machine is an on-going process and problems which prevent certain games from running are inevitable. You may wish to try another version of the TOS rom image but if the game still fails to run then you will simply have to wait for furture versions of the emulator. |
In order to play back the emulated sound of the ST under the Windows environment your sound card and driver must support real-time mixing within DirectX. If the card does not support this feature the emulator will not be able to play the sound.
If you hear crackles or pops while sound is being played then your sound driver is not good enough to support real-time mixing. You may wish to look for alternative sound card/Direct X drivers to remedy the problem. Unfortunately Windows does not have ideal support of real-time sound mixing and while everything has been done to support as many PCs as possible there are some which will not play the sound correctly. Don't blame me! |
WinSTon requires a Pentium 166Mhz or greater to run most applications/games. In some cases where colour effects are used the frame-rate may drop below the required 50 frames per second. This may also cause the sound to repeat and/or stutter.
To improve performance of the emulator you may wish to lower the sound playback quality to 11Khz. Putting the emulator into full-screen mode with a display setting of '16 colours/low resolution' is usually the fastest video mode. WinSTon is highly optimised but its performance may be lower than that of other emulators as it runs under the Windows environment and accurately emulates parts of the ST which other emulators do not; this process can take a lot of CPU power. |
A number of TOS rom images can be downloaded from the Internet. Take a look at The Little Green Desktop which hosts a wide range of TOS images for use in emulators. |
The Little Green Desktop hosts over 2500 games for instant download. It also has a game review database and search engine so you can find those games easily. If you have trouble finding the image you require you can also post requests on the ST Games BBS. |
Your joystick must be configured correctly for use in WinSTon. From the Windows Start menu click on Settings->Control Panel. Here you select the Game Controllers icon. You can add additional joysticks to your system and also check to see if they are calibrated/working correctly. After changing any joystick configuration under Windows you will need to re-run WinSTon for the changes to take effect. |
You machine does not have Microsofts DirectX library installed. This can be obtained from Microsoft or from most magazine cover discs. After installing this library re-boot and try WinSTon again. |
WinSTon requires the real-time mixing features of DirectSound, part of the DirectX library. Sound card drivers for NT and Windows 2000 are at an earlier stage in development and some do not support this feature to sufficient depth to allow the sound to playback correctly. If this is the case you may wish to search for updated sound drivers for your machine. If this still does not fix the problem you will need to disable the sound. |
While WinSTon checks for all errors when using the full-screen mode display of DirectX some graphics cards drivers may lock the system. Users of Windows 2000 may find this occurs as they are using early DirectX drivers. Check with your graphics card manufacturer for driver updates and install these on your machine. If the problem persists you will have to use the emulator in Window mode only. |
When resizing the Window of WinSTon some users may notice a drop in speed. This may also cause the sound playback to corrupt as the emulator cannot achieve the required frame rate. This performance loss is entirely due to Windows stretching the emulator screen to fit the Window. A large number of graphics cards cannot perform this task efficiently and this cannot be avoided. Resize the Window back to its original size or view the emulator in full-screen mode. You may also wish to try the 'Auto scale for Low Res' option found on the Advanced button of the screen options. This exactly doubles the size of the Window which graphics cards can often draw quicker. |
There is no need to register WinSTon as the software is 'freeware'. |
The soure-code to WinSTon is currently not available for download. If will, however, be released for users to modify in the near future. |