Program : The guru v2.3 (Feb. 3,1994 - document) Language: Assembly Author : E.Lensink DISCLAIMER: Although I (the author) have thoroughly tested 'The Guru' and have done everything possible to make the program reliable, you use it at your own risk! I am not responsible for any damage caused by using this program, either direct or indirect. If this program spontaneously crashes your computer, melts your car, blows your nose, or explodes your grandma :-), I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE !!! DISTRIBUTION: 'The Guru' may be included in PD. libraries, on coverdisks, on CD's etc. The files may be archived as long as they are unaltered after dearchieving. The only restriction I make is that it may NOT BE SOLD for profit, and that you keep all the files together. You should have the following files: DOS_Err.data 9051 Guru2.3 10784 Guru2.3c 38572 GURU_Err.data 19494 SimErr 972 Docs (drawer) If your set is not complete, or the filesizes are different you should not use the programs. (hacked versions, viruses etc.) You'll probably have noticed that there are two versions of 'The Guru'. The only difference is that the normal 2.3 version loads its data from disk, therefore the files DOS_Err.data and GURU_Err.data must be in the same directory as Guru2.3. The 2.3c version is an all-in-one version, the data files are hidden safe away inside the program. You can put this anywhere you want on your disk or hard drive. TUTORIAL: Every amiga owner has seen a guru message or software error as they are called in kickstart 2.0 and above at least once in his/her life. That nasty red flashing box has a purpose; the two numbers in the box can tell you why your amiga crashed. The numbers take the following form: +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Software failure. Press left mouse button to continue. | | | | Error: 12345678 Task: 12345678 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ You see two numbers here, one behind error and one behind task. The one behind task is the address in memory where the crash occurred. You can use a monitor and/or dissassembler on that address to see the instruction(s) that caused the error. The number behind error is the real important one, it tells you precisely what error occurred. (If you are a programmer it tells you what stupid error you've made !) Unfortunately a number alone doesn't mean much... but this is where 'The Guru' comes in. 'The Guru' will decode the message for you into a more understandable form. You only have to follow three easy-to-understand steps: 1- When the software error appears press the left mouse button Your computer will reboot. 2- Use the workbench or the shell to start the 'The Guru' program. 3- Click the LAST button, then the GURU button and a miracle happens (well, not quite, but at least you know what has gone wrong...) To test 'The Guru' you can run the program SimErr, which is included in this distribution. Just run SimErr, then start at step 2 above. If everything went right you should see something like this in the 'The Guru' window: GURU NUMBER: 82011234: Deadend Alert DESCRIPTION (graphics): AN_GfxNoLCM: Emergency memory not available RECOVERY SUGGESTION: Clipping graphics in your own program might help ?! All this means: Your computer crashed because the graphics.library didn't have enough memory (mostly for graphics clipping) available. Easy eh... But that's not all! You can also get help with DOS-errors like Couldn't run program x: error 121 Just use the + and - buttons located above and below the three-digit number in the 'The Guru' window to set the number to 121. Then click the DOS button. You can set the guru number in a similar manner; use the + and - buttons above and below the eight digit number to set it. Then click the GURU button. The ABOUT button gives information about the program, the QUIT button quits, and the DEFAULT button resets the program. (not your computer) CUSTOMISING: 'The Guru' can be a little bit customized by two tooltypes: IMMEDIATE - Guess... AUTOTOFRONT - The window pops to front as soon as it's activated. (can be useful if the window is obscured by some other windows) SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: 'The Guru' should run on any amiga with at least kickstart 1.2 . It has been successfully tested on the following configurations: A3000 : 2 Mb CHIP, 4 Mb FAST, Kickstart 2.04 A3000 : 2 Mb CHIP, - Mb FAST, Kickstart 1.3 A500+ : 2 Mb CHIP, - Mb FAST, Kickstart 2.04 A500+ : 2 Mb CHIP, - Mb FAST, Kickstart 1.3 A500 :0.5Mb CHIP,0.5Mb FAST, Kickstart 1.2 A1200 : 2 Mb CHIP, - Mb FAST, Kickstart 3.0 GURU HISTORY: version 1.0 (July 28,1993) : - Real crap version with bugs... - Released at SHN version 1.1 (Aug. 1,1993) : - Fixed all bugs (I guess) - Never really released version 2.0 (Oct. 31,1993) : This is a complete recode... - Better user interface - better descriptions version 2.1 (Dec. 25,1993) : - Added customization by tooltypes in icon version 2.2 (Jan. ?,1994) : Fixed a bug - opened a font but didn't free it - Added zoom gadget in window version 2.21 (Jan. 6,1994) : - Window is now NOCAREREFRESH (=300% faster) - Added RMBTRAP, just looks nicer version 2.3 (Feb. 3,1994) : A lot of changes on this one... - Looks at screen palette for correct 3d buttons. (The buttons looked inversed on a kick 1.3 machine with 2.0 color palette) - Changed the logo, looks nicer - Looks good on a 2-color workbench too ! (now all text is readable...) BUG REPORTS: If you find a bug in The Guru please let me know. Write down EXACTLY what you were doing at the time the bug showed up, your configuration, and anything else that might be relevant. My address is: E.Lensink Notengaarde 33 3992 JR Houten Holland I will not reply to any mail unless you include a self-addressed envelope and stamp(s).