Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Discuss the reverse engineering and emulation (as opposed to simulation) of any sort of Prevue hardware, including Atari-based and Amiga-based EPG channels and the Amiga-based Prevue/TV Guide channels.
JFR_SneakPrevue98
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Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:38 am

Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by JFR_SneakPrevue98 »

Attached is an image of what I got when I tried to emulate Prevue Guide. I just got my computer back from being fixed. I am using WinUAE. Any suggestions. I was able to get it before my computer got fixed but can't remember and used the Prevue Guide recommendations.
Attachments
Prevue.JPG
Prevue.JPG (91.76 KiB) Viewed 7820 times
Jed "Sneak Prevue Fan" Raybould
You're Watching Sneak Prevue.
mixdup
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Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2011 1:51 am

Re: Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by mixdup »

Looks like you're using version 3 of the kickstart. drop down to version 2 for the amiga rom

EDIT: Didn't even notice the error message. The screwed up lines across the display are because of the wrong kickstart ROM version (at least that's what happens when I use a kickstart 3 rom). The error message is, according to the www.prevueguide.com wiki (you searched there, right?) ER012 - Too much chip ram (2MB+ throws this error!)
20CenturyFan
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Re: Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by 20CenturyFan »

This is my "hardware" configuration (Might vary slightly with the wiki... )

CPU and FPU: 68020 CPU
Chipset Full ECS, NTSC, Chipset Extra: A2000
Kickstart 2.04 (kick20.rom)
RAM: Fast=1MB, Chip=1MB, Slow=512K

This has always worked for me. Let us know if you need further assistance.
JFR_SneakPrevue98
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:38 am

Re: Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by JFR_SneakPrevue98 »

20CenturyFan wrote:This is my "hardware" configuration (Might vary slightly with the wiki... )

CPU and FPU: 68020 CPU
Chipset Full ECS, NTSC, Chipset Extra: A2000
Kickstart 2.04 (kick20.rom)
RAM: Fast=1MB, Chip=1MB, Slow=512K

This has always worked for me. Let us know if you need further assistance.
I used your "hardware" configuration and it works. Is there a way to get the time corrected to possibly match the PC time that WinUAE is installed on? It is roughly 5 to 6 minutes behind on my PC. This may have been mentioned before but is there a way to get the current listings for my area (Cadillac, MI 49601 Charter Communications)? Is there a piece of software to view the contents of the "PREVUE.ADF" file? Is there any way to to get rid of the blue colored text "Local Edit not available" for 'Edit Ads' and 'Edit Attributes'?

I just saw the bumper for the TV Guide Sportsview thing and now I am seeing TV Guide Entertainment News bumper.
Jed "Sneak Prevue Fan" Raybould
You're Watching Sneak Prevue.
mixdup
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Joined: Sun Dec 25, 2011 1:51 am

Re: Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by mixdup »

Well, for the local ads I'll tell you because it's kind of obscurely documented on the wiki: Hit esc, select diagnostic mode, and press Shift-1 until "Text:" changes to L

In terms of inserting your own listings, check out some of the other threads in this forum. AriX has said he will release some of his Mac apps he's cobbled together to insert stuff serially, but there's ways to do it manually (or even programmatically) once you read up on the curday.dat format.
20CenturyFan
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Re: Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by 20CenturyFan »

When you start your emulation, the time is already synced with your host computer. However, depending on your host's hardware, it is normal that the clock falls as much as 15 minutes behind during emulation (I am running a 7.5 year old P4 laptop, and this is the biggest gap I have seen before it reset itself). However, WinUAE will resync with the host PC periodically so that it doesn't fall so far behind that it renders the listings useless. I do believe that it is disabled by default though, so to toggle it you would go into the "Miscellaneous" settings and check "Synchronize Clock".

Follow mixdup's instructions with regards on how to add your own text ads, but let me be the first to say this. I often leave my emulation running for hours straight and have noticed that text ads are only in rotation the first five minutes of emulation before the graphic ads completely take over (until you shut off the program. Text ads will only show manually after this). In the case I wanted to keep some of my text ads in rotation, I ended up taking a screen shot of them and putting them in as graphic ads (so, I cheated! lol). I use a very complex process to make my own graphic ads though (might be somewhere on the forums, not sure), and would recommend that you ask Tin or AriX for a simpler method if you are interested in replacing TVGuide graphics with Prevue.

As far as (automatic updating) listings go, that could take some time. Formats have changed dramatically since this software was last used, and there would have to be multiple format conversions of one type or another just to make it readable by the software. A few here have some scripts in preliminary stages, but their versions are specifically for their setup, and would not work for anyone else's unless modified for each specific user (which could get complicated)
JFR_SneakPrevue98
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:38 am

Re: Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by JFR_SneakPrevue98 »

20CenturyFan wrote:When you start your emulation, the time is already synced with your host computer. However, depending on your host's hardware, it is normal that the clock falls as much as 15 minutes behind during emulation (I am running a 7.5 year old P4 laptop, and this is the biggest gap I have seen before it reset itself). However, WinUAE will resync with the host PC periodically so that it doesn't fall so far behind that it renders the listings useless. I do believe that it is disabled by default though, so to toggle it you would go into the "Miscellaneous" settings and check "Synchronize Clock".

Follow mixdup's instructions with regards on how to add your own text ads, but let me be the first to say this. I often leave my emulation running for hours straight and have noticed that text ads are only in rotation the first five minutes of emulation before the graphic ads completely take over (until you shut off the program. Text ads will only show manually after this). In the case I wanted to keep some of my text ads in rotation, I ended up taking a screen shot of them and putting them in as graphic ads (so, I cheated! lol). I use a very complex process to make my own graphic ads though (might be somewhere on the forums, not sure), and would recommend that you ask Tin or AriX for a simpler method if you are interested in replacing TVGuide graphics with Prevue.

As far as (automatic updating) listings go, that could take some time. Formats have changed dramatically since this software was last used, and there would have to be multiple format conversions of one type or another just to make it readable by the software. A few here have some scripts in preliminary stages, but their versions are specifically for their setup, and would not work for anyone else's unless modified for each specific user (which could get complicated)
Yup the "Synchronize Clock" option is disabled/greyed out. May have to contact the programmer to see if in the next version of WinUAE to enable the "Synchronize Clock" option.


To Tin and/or AriX,

Is there piece of software that will allow a Windows user (like me and others), to view/edit the contents of the PREVUE.adf file? I'd like to copy the PrevueC font from the PREVUE.adf file and try to make an OpenType or TrueType font out of it.
Jed "Sneak Prevue Fan" Raybould
You're Watching Sneak Prevue.
AriX
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Re: Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by AriX »

JFR_SneakPrevue98 wrote:Is there piece of software that will allow a Windows user (like me and others), to view/edit the contents of the PREVUE.adf file? I'd like to copy the PrevueC font from the PREVUE.adf file and try to make an OpenType or TrueType font out of it.
I don't know anything about Windows - but I'm sure you can find something to read the ADF. On the Mac I use The Unarchiver. But rudyvalencia beat you to it and made an excellent PrevueC TTF a while back. Unfortunately, the download link is down. I just emailed Rudy to see if we can get it back up - the only copy I have is the older "version 1.3" here: http://cl.ly/3f3J1g1v3H1N2S0Q0l30

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=35&start=10#p982
20CenturyFan
Posts: 93
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 3:36 pm

Re: Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by 20CenturyFan »

Workbench is the only thing I am aware of that allows the transfer of files to and from an ADF (without corrupting the image). I'd share a folder or drive on your PC and store your files there that you would like to transfer to and from the image (easier yet if this folder is what was set up as your "hard disk" during your startup sequence, and have it accessible to workbench). In other words, this shared drive can be used as a "shuttle" between your PC and the ADF.

Also, unpowerpacked versions of some significant files on the ADF can be found here:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29&p=339&hilit=zip#p339

AriX, I have RudyValencia's PrevueC version 2.0 font attached here: :D
Attachments
PrevueC20.zip
(31.19 KiB) Downloaded 547 times
JFR_SneakPrevue98
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:38 am

Prevue Emulation HELP!!!!

Post by JFR_SneakPrevue98 »

Is Workbench the name of the software that you have? When I did a Google search I got the wood working version. I tried to open PREVUE.adf in WinRAR I got an error.

I downloaded the font and have to it looks pretty darn awesome.


Jed Raybould
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Jed "Sneak Prevue Fan" Raybould
You're Watching Sneak Prevue.
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