docs/README

   1 ----------------------------------------------
   2 Virtual Jaguar v2.1.3 Rx GCC/Qt release README
   3 ----------------------------------------------
   4
   5 --------------
   6 - DISCLAIMER -
   7 --------------
   8
   9 Or, "O liability, I do disclaim thee!"
  10
  11 Ported by SDLEMU (Niels Wagenaar & Carwin Jones) and is based upon the
  12 original work by David Raingeard of Potato Emulation. For requirements please
  13 consult the INSTALL file for more information about supported OS's and
  14 software requirements.
  15
  16 The use of this software is entirely at your own risk. While it won't rape
  17 your dog, it might do other nasty things. We can't be held responsible for
  18 damage done to your hardware and/or software. You may only use the ROM images
  19 if you own the cartridges itself. The use of commercial ROMs without owning the
  20 original cartridge is illegal in most countries and could result in fines
  21 and/or legal actions.
  22
  23 The products, trademarks and/or brands used in these documents and/or
  24 sourcecode are owned by their respective companies and/or successors in
  25 interest.
  26
  27 This software is released under the GPL v3 or later. For more information, read
  28 the GPLv3 file.
  29
  30
  31 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  32 - IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT JAGUAR FILE FORMATS--READ THIS OR ELSE! -
  33 ----------------------------------------------------------------
  34
  35 There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the various file formats that
  36 Jaguar programs come in, and a lot of this confusion seem to come from
  37 Cowering's GoodJag renaming tool. Note that it simply gets some files wrong,
  38 and it also incorrectly renames cartridge images with an extension that
  39 belongs to an already established extension (.jag is a Jaguar Server
  40 executable--read on). To clarify, there are basically fith major types of
  41 Jaguar binary images that are NOT cartridge images:
  42
  43     .abs
  44     .jag
  45     .rom
  46     .bin
  47     .elf
  48
  49 The first type, the .abs file, is a DRI/Alcyon format absolute location
  50 executable. These come in two different flavors and contain load and run
  51 addresses in their headers. Note that some files which have an .abs extension
  52 are really incorrectly labelled .bin files with no header information
  53 whatsoever.
  54
  55 The second type, the .jag file, is a Jaguar Server executable. These files
  56 contain header information that tells you where to load and run the file's
  57 executable code. Note that as of this writing (8/5/2005) that the GoodJag ROM
  58 renaming tool by Cowering incorrectly renames Jaguar cartridge ROM dumps to
  59 have a .jag extension (a better choice, and the one supported by Virtual
  60 Jaguar, is .j64)--if you're trying to run a ROM image with a .jag extension on
  61 VJ, it will misinterpret it as a Jaguar Server executable and likely fail to
  62 run.
  63
  64 The third type, the .rom file, is an Alpine Board/ROM Image file. These files
  65 have no header, but are known to load and run at $802000 in the Jaguar memory
  66 space. Again, these are *different* from cartridge dumps since they load at a
  67 higher address than a Jaguar cartridge.
  68
  69 The fourth type, the .bin file, is simply a Jaguar executable with no header.
  70 Since these files contain no information about where they load and execute,
  71 Virtual Jaguar does not support this file type. Go bug the author to release
  72 either a file with proper headers or a file in Alpine ROM format. Virtual
  73 Jaguar is not omniscient (yet)! ;)
  74
  75 The fifth type, the .elf file, is a Jaguar executable with ELF headers, with
  76 or without DWARF information.
  77
  78 There is a sith type of file that is supported by Virtual Jaguar, the .j64
  79 file, which is simply a 1, 2, or 4 Meg dump of a Jaguar cartridge ROM which
  80 loads at $800000 in the Jaguar memory space.
  81
  82
  83 ----------------------------------
  84 - What is Virtual Jaguar GCC/Qt? -
  85 ----------------------------------
  86
  87 Virtual Jaguar is software dedicated to emulating the Atari Jaguar hardware on
  88 a standard PC. The software was originally developed by David Raingeard of
  89 Potato Emulation [http://potato.emu-france.com] and was released under the GPL
  90 on 25 June 2003.
  91
  92 Virtual Jaguar GCC/Qt is not just a port of the MS Visual C++/SDL sourcecode
  93 but has also been extended and rewritten so that we can enjoy Atari Jaguar
  94 emulation on every platform that has a GCC compiler and a port of Qt.
  95
  96 Currently Virtual Jaguar GCC/Qt Rx compiles on WIN64 using msys2/MinGW64,
  97 and Visual Studio 2015. Compiles also on cygwin64 but no tests have been done.
  98 It has previously compiled on WIN32 using mingw, and several UN*X based systems
  99 (BeOS, Linux, FreeBSD and MacOS). It may run on other
 100 systems as well but we can not guarantee that.
 101
 102 The Rx version has been made specically to add a debugger support, but some
 103 modifications have been done as well. The official contact email and name(s) are
 104 not related in any way with this work.
 105
 106 The port was done by the SDLEMU crew (http://sdlemu.ngemu.com) and especially
 107 by Niels Wagenaar and Carwin Jones. A major portion of the rewrite was done by
 108 James Hammons. You may contact us by e-mail (sdlemu@ngemu.com) or leave a
 109 message on the SDLEMU Official Forum (see the website). Patches and bugfixes
 110 are particularly welcome! :)
 111
 112 More information about the incredible SDL libraries can be found at
 113 http://www.libsdl.org. Thanks Sam--you rock! :)
 114
 115
 116 -------------------------------
 117 - Using Virtual Jaguar GCC/Qt -
 118 -------------------------------
 119
 120 Simply double click on the Virtual Jaguar icon or type ./virtualjaguar -h from
 121 the command line. See the built in help (under Help|Contents) for more
 122 information on how to use it. :-)
 123
 124
 125 -----------
 126 - Finally -
 127 -----------
 128
 129 If you find bugs, enhance the code or simply have questions, drop us an e-mail
 130 at sdlemu AT ngemu DOT com or drop a message on the SDLEMU Official Forum.
 131
 132 More information about this project (releases/WIP) can be found at the official
 133 Virtual Jaguar website [http://www.icculus.org/virtualjaguar] and on the SDLEMU
 134 website [http://sdlemu.ngemu.com].
 135
 136 We hope you enjoy the emulator and will use it wisely!
 137
 138 Thanks go to guys over at ngemu.com and #ngemu (EFNET). Thanks also to David
 139 Raingeard of Potato Emulation who originally developed this emulator and
 140 released the sources to the public. We couldn't have done it without you!
 141
 142 Special thanks go to everyone who submitted good, detailed bug reports,
 143 sometimes with demonstration code(!); your help has helped to make Virtual
 144 Jaguar better, more accurate, and more polished than it would be otherwise. We
 145 really appreciate your help!
 146
 147 SDLEMU