Steem SSE FAQ
---------------


Q:
What is Steem?
A:
Steem stands for STE Emulation Engine.
It's an excellent Atari STE emulator coded by Anthony and Russel Hayward.


Q:
Where are Steem authors?
A:
They disappeared in the lower border never to be seen again...
Before that they released the source of their great emulator, mercifully.


Q:
What is 'SSE'?
A:
'Steven Seagal Edition', a branch of Steem, and the only one with active
development and exciting new features.


Q:
Is Steem really being improved by Steven Seagal?
A:
How unlikely does it sound to you? Don't you think it's more fun than
churning out crappy DTV movies just for the money?


Q:
How does it work?
A:
There's a complete introduction to Steem here: 
http://ataristeven.t15.org/Steem_manual.htm
To use Steem, you need a copy of the ROM, called "TOS", and image disk
files. When you first launch Steem, you may indicate where they are,
and you can change that later.
To get started you will find some TOS on the Steem SSE site:
http://ataristeven.t15.org/Other_downloads.htm
Disk images are easy to find. Some are also available on the site.
Legally this is still copyrighted material, and if they really wanted,
companies who own it could call a halt on emulation, but they don't.


Q:
What is TOS?
A:
This stands for 'The Operating System', also called 'Tramiel Operating System'.
Including the BIOS, the GEM graphic environment and other layers, the full OS,
except on very early models (also emulated), was printed on a ROM chip. You need
an image of one of those roms to use Steem.
http://www.avtandil.narod.ru/tose.html


Q:
What do STE and STF stand for?
A:
STE is ST Extraordinary and STF is ST Fantastic.
Seriously: 
ST=Sixteen Thirty-two, a reference to the 16/32 architecture.
STF= ST Floppy, because the floppy drive is integrated in the console.
STE= ST Enhanced, because it's what it is.
The STF came before the STE. The STE is better but most programs targeted
the STF for commercial reasons.
In other emulators, you may find 'ST' (Hatari) or 'STFM' (SainT) instead 
of 'STF'.
We prefer 'STF' despite the imprecision because 'ST' may also mean the
full gamut.
Since both STF and STE are handled in Steem SSE, it's better to write it
STeem than STEem!
But then we need to find a new explanation for the name:
STeem = ST extended emulator?


Q:
Which ST model should I select?
A:
It depends on the program you need to run. Some programs are STF-only,
others are STE-only. If you don't know, a good bet is to start with STE
since this computer had more features. 
But then again, many programs wouldn't run on a STE (so this is not always
an emulation bug if something works in STF mode but not STE).
Please check the SpecificHints textfile where some exclusive STF or STE
programs are listed.


Q:
Aren't programs better on the Amiga anyway?
A:
Some yes, others not. Generally games were better, though some of the 
important games of the era were actually better on the ST or not even
released on the Amiga.
Generally still, serious applications were better on the ST.
Demos, as strange as it may sound, were often more interesting and 
impressive on the ST.


Q:
Which TOS should I use?
A:
Generally, TOS 1.02 is the most compatible for STF mode, and TOS 1.06 for STE
mode. Steem will try to match those TOS when you switch ST model.
Some rare programs prefer another version.
TOS1.00 STF
TOS1.02 STF
TOS1.04 STF
TOS1.06 STE
TOS1.61 STE
TOS2.05 Mega STE
TOS2.06 Mega STF/STE
TOS3.0X TT
TOS4.0X Falcon


Q:
Shouldn't all programs work with all TOS? I prefer TOS X.YZ.
A:
No, mostly due to bad coding practices, some programs will only work with
such or such TOS. Memory option may also be important, and of course the ST
model.
I won't check reported "bugs" under an unusual TOS without knowing for sure
that it should work.


Q:
Hey my shortcut for F12 doesn't work anymore!
A:
This is by design. F12 will start/stop emulation in Steem like in other
emulators. I ignore requests to the contrary or to make it optional.
Because in case your boss barges in, such an easy key is handy.
You may also define a definitive boss key by assigning the 'Exit Steem'
function to a shortcut.


Q:
Help! Something went wrong and now even quitting and restarting Steem 
doesn't help.
A:
Try deleting the file 'auto.sts' in Steem's directory. It can get corrupted.


Q:
Help! I reset the ST, stop and start Steem, delete auto.sts and I just get
a blank screen.
A:
Check options ST model and TOS. With STF and TOS1.06, you'll have a blank
screen.


Q:
Emulation stops when going fullscreen, it doesn't do that in Steem 3.2!
A:
This is by design. On all computers I have ever tried Steem, going fullscreen
causes stuttering in emulation for 1 second or 2. So now it will wait for
your command.


Q:
Fullscreen just doesn't work.
A:
First I'm sorry if you have crashes. 
Fullscreen is done in Steem using DirectDraw, an old library for which support
 in Windows is still excellent, but that is more or less deprecated.
Since it was such a problem for so many people, I've tried to make the code
a bit more robust.
It's possible that working with another library could improve results, and
a future version of Steem could work better so.
But as it is, Steem works fine in fullscreen on all the computers I have
tested. Steem requires a 800x600 resolution in fullscreen. If your hardware
(wide screen?) or drivers can't provide it, it will not work. So it's not
just up to Steem. Maybe some utilities could help, for Steem like for some
old DirectX games.
Notice that there are several rendering modes, "laptop" should work in any
case.


Q:
I have problems with sound (in Windows)!
A:
Me too!
It isn't easy to fix.
There have always been sound issues on the PC. Steem authors provided some
options to help, just in case.
The options that should make the most sense are:
- Default sound driver
- Don't check 'write to primary buffer', it's a hack!
- Timing method: 'write cursor'
- Delay 20ms if your computer can handle it
- Frequency: depends on your hardware (44.1k is generally fine) and the
program (50066 may sound better for some STE programs).
- Format: 16bit stereo is generally fine.
- Volume: if you're not satisfied, it could help to set it to max and use
your Windows control panel to adjust.


Q:
I have problems with sound (in Linux)!
A:
On my system, up to now, it works. Sorry I have no clue how to help.


Q:
I have some crashes that could be related to sound.
A:
Some DSP code has been added to Steem to handle Microwire emulation.
This code is primitive and its use of the math coprocessor can cause bugs
that we can't easily handle . 


Q:
When I check 'Drive Sound' option, sometimes it doesn't work.
A:
You may change this option while emulation is running, but to avoid code
bloat and memory waste, the samples are loaded when Steem builds its sound
buffers, that is, when you start emulation.
So simply stopping and resuming emulation should solve the issue.


Q:
Emulation is crawling!
A:
It's a fact that Steem SSE is more CPU demanding than Steem 3.2.
Some options may make a difference, like VSync.


Q:
Sometimes I lose keyboard control.
A:
Me too. Don't know the cause. It's not an emulation issue if quitting and 
restarting Steem gives you control back.


Q:
When Pasti is on, the red led for writing doesn't seem to work.
A:
It's because Pasti (v0.2h) doesn't attempt to emulate correct timings for
writes. The operation is instantaneous, so you have no time to catch the 
red led.
Remedying this with some hack doesn't seem worth it.
Notice that without Pasti as well, write operations are followed by seek and 
read operations, so that the led doesn't remain red all the time. In fast
disk mode, you won't see red for short operations.


Q:
Are state snapshots (.STS) compatible between versions?
A:
While there's no 100% guarantee, we try to maintain compatibility.
It's useful for me too, to compare versions in case of bugs.
You could have trouble because of 'HD6301' emu in some Steem versions
(not the latest normally).


Q:
What is "wake-up state"?
A:
It is the state in which your ST booted, due to synchronisation between various
chips. It has an influence on shifter trick timings.
Most of the time, "ignore" is the best choice, as WU1 and especially WU2 will
break some programs.
You may generally ignore this option, it is useful only to check the
display of some demos. They're mentioned in 'SpecificHints'.


Q:
A program that used to work has a wrong picture and crashes...
A:
One reason could be option "wake-up state", try with setting to 'ignore'.


Q:
Hey you claim to have fixed this or that issue with drive emulation but when
I try it doesn't work.
A:
All drive emulation improvements operate only in slow disk mode. The option is
in the drive manager AND in the SSE option page, you can't miss it anymore.


Q:
Will there be a port of Steem on [fill in]?
A:
For the moment two OS are supported: Windows 32 and Linux 32.
Before considering other ports, it could be a good idea to use a portable
multimedia library working with both those systems, it would make things
easier. 
I'm looking at SDL.


Q:
What is XSteem?
A:
The Linux build of Steem. It's a reference to the Windows-like X system.


Q:
Why are there fewer features in the Linux build?
A:
It's very rare when I use Linux myself. I'm not really willing to delve deep
into all Linux particularities. In fact it's a shame for the Linux community
that nobody else did anything yet with Steem in Linux.


Q:
Is support for Falcon planned?
A:
No. To me those machines, like the TT,  have no interest.
Now nothing keeps dedicated people from starting a Falcon branch of Steem.


Q:
I'd like IPF support to include such feature.
A:
There will be no further work on IPF support except bug fixes (but hey there's
no bug! I coded it right for once) until we see where it's going. 
It must be worth it. For the same reason there's no IPF support in Linux.


Q:
Hmm I think this feature is incorrect in Steem SSE, my code proves it.
A:
Oh yeah? 
I can't fix bugs without first asserting them. Please send some examples that
prove that there's a problem.
It's also better if the same program has been proved to run on a real ST.


Q:
What is the 'Boiler'?
A:
The Boiler is the amazing debugger coded by Steem authors. It is Steem with a 
parallel window where you can check code, memory, etc., just using a powerful
IDE. The name is a probable reference to 'Steam' and 'Engine'.
Of course the SSE version contains many improvements.
It is Windows-only.


Q:
I want to contribute some code!
A:
Please do. I like to brag about all I do myself but any help is appreciated.
All you have to do is use subversion, and send me a message at:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/steemsse/
If you don't like this versioning software, just submit your ideas at
atari-forum:
http://www.atari-forum.com/viewforum.php?f=94


