|2-WARNING I/We/Everybody and his dog accepts NO responsibility for any loss of or damage to any data, personal features, vital signs, war, acts of God (or Satan), as a direct or indirect result of the use or misuse of this neat and skillo program. In short, you're on your own, son! ======================================================================== ________________________ ________ _______ ____ ____ _________ | /__ \ /__ \| / /---\____ \/ \--/ \/ / | __/ | / __/ | \ / / | | / \/ \__ __/| | _/ _ \ _/\ _ \ \ | \ /\ \ /\ \| | | | || | \ \ | \\ \ | | \\/ / \/ /| | | l_____|l___l_ /___ /_l__ /_\_ / l____ /___ /\____ / l_ j | +------------\/----\/-----\/----\/----------\/----\/------\/----\/---+ Version 2.60 - Release Date: 9.4.95 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ =========================================== MAJOR CHANGE WARNING!!! =========================================== This version of FreakBoot is not compatible with the config files that you use with any older versions as extra data catagories are now included - read this doc very carefully and make sure you understand!! Freak/NFA =========================================== F*ck knows why you'd ever want to use this, but Pex/QuI says it's the coolest thing since my fridge, Deck the Ripper/NFA insists on seeing it after claiming my previous setup (FreakBoot v1.0) was "very tidy", and I AM just a LITTLE bit proud of it myself, so... |1-What does it do? Well, it wastes loads of RAM, looks very pretty, and allows you to quickly and easily boot your system into a number of configurations, oh and it plays Soundtracker Mods and samples too... |1-What are you on about? FreakBoot v2.0 is basically a menu that was written for my A1200 with 2Mb CHIP and 4Mb FAST Ram, there were occasions where I would want to boot with a certain configuration, like straight into a game instead of going through Workbench all the time, or maybe I'd want to boot PPaint with the maximum amount of CHIP ram and all the PC drivers mounted, get the idea? The original idea came from Video/iNDi (although he doesn't know it), I was at his house watching him on his PC, and he had this little menu come up - just a few lines of text on the screen, pick 1 to 4 and all that, nothing brilliant - and at the time I dismissed it as necessary only on the (koff koff) PC, as he ONLY (!) had 4Mb of RAM and, PCs being so shite and all, needed to use varying setups for certain things. HOWEVER!! Murphys law of computers number 4872 states that "The faster a machine gets, the more impatient the user will become when waiting for something to load", and would you bloody believe it? It's True! |1-How do I Install it? NOTE!!! Before you do ANYTHING you should copy your Startup-sequence to a safe place just in case you're not as handy with the Shell as you should be! FB2 simply executes a script file depending on your menu choice, you make a copy of your original HD startup-sequence (call it S:Full.boot or something) and create a new one thus: Assign ENV: Ram: Run >Nil: C:FreakBoot Endcli >Nil: You also need a config file, and it's best to get this sorted before you rename your startup-sequence. Basically it consists of plain ASCII text lines comprising your keyboard shorcut, menu text and the name of the script file to be executed, seperated by a "|" character. Blank likes should be represented with " | | " (space-"|"-space-"|"-space) otherwise you'll get a funky error and the menu will quit. A typical configuration may look something like this: F|Full AGA Workbench|Full.boot | | M|Mini Workbench|Mini.boot S|Non-AGA Shell|Shell.boot | | D|DPaint IV|DPaint.boot K|Kickstart 1.3|Kick13.boot This file must be saved in your assigned S: directory and should be called "FreakBoot.cfg", when you run the program it will search for this file and strip it down into a presentable menu. Note that versions earlier than v2.60 loaded a file called "NFA_Boot.config" which did not contain the keyboard shortcuts. I have used a different filename so that you don't have to over-write your existing data. To update your existing file to v2.60 simply load it up into your editor and add " |" (Space-"|") to the start of every line, you can insert your keyboard shortcuts instead of the space if you want them, then save this new file as "S:FreakBoot.cfg" and copy the new executable over the older one, reset your pooter, and away you go. Keyboard shortcuts are not necessary, but if you do not want one for any particular line you must still pad it out with a space character. These keys may be entered in Upper case if you wish, but will be displayed and accepted in lower case, so ensure you do not have the CAPS LOCK light on otherwise your keypresses will not be recognised. If a keyboard short- cut is assign to an item then is will be displayed on the screen. You can give the filenames an optional path if you want, but remember that you will NOT be CD'd to that directory. The "Execute" command automatically searched the S: dir first so if your filenames don't have a path (like those above) then it'll hunt here for them. Obviously you need the Execute command in your C: dir, and also the Run command unless (in Kickstart 2.0 and greater) it's in ROM already as a resident command. |1-Did you say Music? Yup, FB2 will check the S: directory for a Soundtracker module called "Boot.mod" and will load and play it if it's there. This module must not be Powerpacked, nor must it use any fancy timing tricks, because AMOS doesn't like such things, so if you ripped that funky mod from the end of the Limbo "H.T.K.H" demo, sorry but it won't work! FB2 will now play mono 8SVX samples, if you save one in your S: dir with the filename "Boot.sam" it will be played, if you save it as file "Boot.loop" then it will (surprise!) loop, make sure it sounds okay before you use it! Note that samples take precedence over modules, if you have both a sample AND a mod saved then only the sample will play. For your information, the biggest sample I've played so far was "Meet the Flintstones", and a CHIP-Stuffing 1.24Mb it was too! Pex/QuI use a massive 1.05Mb sample on a standard A1200 with no problems. *** NEW FEATURE ADDED *** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From v2.5 if you have a RAW Font file in your S: directory and call it "Boot.font" then it will be loaded and used. These fonts are getting more and more popular, I've included one for you to use... *** NEW FEATURE ADDED *** ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ From v2.51 the menu will allow you to play a sample on exit as well, not including the reset of course! Save your mono 8SVX sample as a file in your S: directory (as usual!) called "Boot.exit" and all sound will stop for this sample to play. Note that I have specifically created the pair of samples "Boot.loop" and "Boot.exit" in this archive to go together to give you some idea of how you can use this - enjoy! |1-Any Limitations? Hmmm, well the program was actually produced for NFA and so it says NFA all over it. I don't mind if non-NFA people use it and I might change a few bits in the future to make it more configurable, but then again I may not, let me know if you want anything doing! As I said before it also wastes RAM, although I'm sure the Amiga's OS is efficient enough to return the RAM to you as quickly as you can quit the program. Don't forget that I use it on a 6Mb A1200 so I have plenty of RAM in which to run it AND a hee-uge module without worrying about fragmented memory, it may not be the same for you! In this Archive: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ---------------------------------------------------- File What's that? Len(b) ---------------------------------------------------- Boot.exit A quit sample. 15018 Boot.font An optional RAW font 768 Boot.loop A Sample I made up. 27612 Boot.mod A nice module 7918 FreakBoot Program to go in C: 82160 FreakBoot.cfg Config file to go in S: 91 FreakBoot.doc This doc file 14919 ---------------------------------------------------- |1-Miscellaneous Infos: Freak Boot v2.0/NFA_Boot was written in AMOS Professional although the source is completely 1.35 compatible, no machine code was used but I did crash my pooter a couple of times getting the parallax effect working, serves me right for "Loke"ing where I'm not wanted I suppose... *NOTE* Assembler HAS been used in v2.5 and I doubt very much that the source code is still 1.35 compatible now I think about it... The font supplied is the MicroKnight font - I don't know who created it but it looks kin' SMART!! The module is "Tots TV" by Neř from the Citv demo - excellent stuff! The samples "Boot.loop" and "Boot.exit" supplied in the archive are ones I made up from bits of "Alien Breed Tower Assault CD" and "Frontier" and are to illustrate how matching samples can make a difference. AMOS, AMOS Pro, and the AMOS Pro Compiler are © Europress Software. Freak Boot v2.60 has been tested on the following: A1200 - 0Mb Fast RAM, 20Mb HD, 1 External (CHIP Availability) A1200 - 4Mb Fast RAM, 40Mb HD, 1 External (FAST Compatibility) History: ~~~~~~~~ v2.0 - Original Re-Write from v1.0 v2.1 (15.11.94) - Pex decides that the logo on the slower bitplane should be made smaller to give a more 3D effect, I agreed, plus tiny Palette change done as well, slower plane is now a bit darker Cursor Key control added, you can now use c/up & c/down to move and return to select. v2.2 (15.11.94) - Added sample playing as an option to mods. v2.3 (20.11.94) - Fixed a bug in the sample-replay routine that threw a wobbler on hee-uge samples! v2.4 (29.11.94) - Joystick control added for lazy b*st*rds, use up, down and fire to select. v2.41 (02.12.94) - Toby Ted added, just wait a minute! v2.42 (23.12.94) - Now the Escape key actually DOES some- thing! It will call the Exec ColdReBoot() function so you can boot from floppy disk more easily. v2.5 (23.2.95) - BIG Changes! Changed mouse pointer, You can now have a RAW font file, Changed the Smiley logo, Removed Text Shadow, Version Number added on-screen. v2.51 (24.2.95) - Changed logo for a better one, Added Quit sample + calculated wait, Removed Toby Ted, he retired! Fixed a bug in the parallax routine, Supplied samples amplified slightly. v2.52 (25.2.95) - Minor bug fixed in Exit Sample routine. (Small but Hi-Rate samples finished early). v2.60 (9.4.95) - Added Keyboard Shortcuts, suggested by a scene dude, >Bad Monkey<. You can contact NFA at either of the following addresses too: N.F.A. N.F.A. P.O.Box 42, P.O.Box 323, Grimsby, and Campbell Street, South Humberside. Leicester. DN33 1RY LE1 5XP Coders, artists and musicians wanting to join should write to Freak of NFA at the Grimsby address. Modem-traders, Mail-traders and BBSs who want to either join or spread wares for us should write to Deck the Ripper at the Leicester address or log on to the Big Hard One BBS on 0116 2661610 ========================================================================