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

v3.7.2

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 suddenly 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:
SSE stands for 'Steven Seagal Edition', a branch of Steem, and the only one
with active development and exciting new features.
One important feature is that Steem SSE also emulates the STF, not only
the STE. Despite this, the name isn't changed. Should be STem?


Q:
How much does it cost?
A:
Steem is free software.


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:
Why use Steem and not X or Y?
A:
For the nice GUI, for very high compatibility, for some unique features.
If you're in Linux or want to emulate the Falcon, that's another story.


Q:
How does it work?
A:
To use Steem, you need a copy of the Atari ROM, called "TOS", and some 
image disk files. 
When you first launch Steem, you may indicate where they are, which you can
change later.
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.

To get started you will find some TOS on the Steem SSE site:

http://ataristeven.t15.org/Other_downloads.htm
or here:
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 has more features, like hardware scrolling,
stereo sound, etc.
The STF came before the STE. The STE is better but most programs targeted
the STF for commercial reasons.


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 Hints 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, serious applications were better on the ST. The "multitask"
Amiga OS was a joke.
Demos, as strange as it may sound, were often more interesting and 
impressive on the ST.
The Atari ST is one of the contenders for best chip music. The
sound of the Amiga was impressive back then but is nothing more
than bad 8bit samples today, it was quickly outclassed by the Soundblaster.


Q:
Which TOS should I use?
A:
Generally, TOS 1.02 is the most compatible for STF mode, and TOS 1.62 for STE
mode. Steem will try to match those TOS when you switch ST model.
Some rare programs prefer another version, like TOS 1.00 for very old games,
or even depend on a country specific TOS.
TOS1.00 STF
TOS1.02 STF
TOS1.04 STF
TOS1.06 STE
TOS1.62 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:
What's the most accurate display size?
A:
It seems the original Steem size, 384x270, is what you typically got on a
monitor. Some monitors or TV certainly could display more, or no ST coder
would ever have proposed larger images, and the option wouldn't make any
sense.


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, but you have the guarantee that F12 will always
work.


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.
In rare cases of very bad corruption you may even need to delete or edit 
steem.ini.


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 TOS1.6, you'll have a blank
screen.


Q:
Steem can't handle zip or rar or 7z files.
A:
Check that necessary DLL are in your Steem folder.
In Unix, Steem will only handle zip files.


Q:
I find scrollers and games jerky compared with a real ST.
A:
Emulation is precise enough but smooth scrolling depends on your own 
hardware. You need a video card and a monitor capable of displaying at
the exact emulated frequency, 50hz most of the time.
If your hardware is set to 60hz or 75hz, for example, it's impossible
to have really smooth scrollers.
Triple-buffering (also available in Steem, of course) can't help that.


Q:
What's the use of triple-buffering?
A:
Triple-buffering eliminates the horrible "ghosting" effect.
The option is only really useful in Windows XP. In later versions,
this should be automatically done by the system, and the option
would only interfere.


Q:
Steem needs much time at first run.
A:
It depends on the system, apparently it's due to sound initialisation.


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. Though in recent versions of Steem SSE,
the volume slider has been fixed.


Q:
I have problems with sound (in Linux)!
A:
Can't help! Please join the call for some Linux maintainers.


Q:
Emulation is crawling!
A:
It's a fact that Steem SSE is more CPU-intensive than Steem 3.2.
Partly it has to do with the large extension of "shifter tricks" emulation,
more tests are required by scanline.
Partly it has to do with parallel emulations running together, for the 
HD6301, for CAPS...
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.
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:
When I take a screenshot in Steem my pictures turn out upside down and back
to front if I am using FreeImage.dll.
A:
Steem was updated to work with later versions of this great plugin, because,
hem, they broke compatibility between versions.
So you need to use a recent version, that you can find there:
http://freeimage.sourceforge.net/download.html


Q:
After starting Steem 3.7 on my Win7 machine, it asks for "D3DX9_43.dll". I 
copied this file to the Steem directory, but still Steem refuses to start 
(application error (0xc00007b)). 
I had no problem with previous Steem versions.
A:
This is a common DirectX install error, no Steem bug.
Here are some hints:
- This error seems to be caused by calling into a 64 bit DLL from a 32 bit app
or vice versa.
This error message may occur on 64 bit operating systems when the Microsoft 
Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package is not properly configured.
You may try to reinstall it. 
- Apply all Windows updates
- Reinstall .Net Framwork 4.5.1
- Copy the following files into Steem folder:
d3d9.dll
d3dx9_43.dll
dxinput1_3.dll 
If it doesn't help, some search engine will be more useful than me.
There is also a NoD3D build available in case it really won't work.


Q:
Some Pasti images (STX) of games work in Hatari but not in Steem. Can you fix
that?
A:
Hatari directly handles those images, with up-to-date knowledge of drive
emulation. Steem uses a plugin, pasti.dll, that is much older and is in need
of an update.
Fortunately, those cases are rare, and we have alternatives now, like CTR
and IPF, that also use a plugin, capsimg.dll, which is up-to-date, as well
as SPC images using an up-to-date emulation in Steem itself.
Who knows? Maybe one day pasti.dll will be improved.
For those reasons directly handling STX images in Steem is not planned.


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 quickly compare versions in case of bugs.


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.
You may generally ignore this option, it is useful only to check the
display of some demos. Those are mentioned in 'Hints'.


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 it 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 if the option 'Accurate Disk
Access Times (Slow)' is checked in the Disk manager, for ST, MSA, DIM disk
images.
For IPF, CTR, STW, SCP and HFE disk images, the option isn't necessary as 
emulation is slow anyway :) (no fast option yet).
For STX images, settings are in 'Pasti configuration'.


Q:
Hey, you claim you fixed file associations, but it doesn't work on my computer.
A:
For it to work you first need to manually remove the associations in the
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT part of the registry, that were put by previous versions of
Steem.
By the way, with most files zipped, file association makes less sense.


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, such as SDL or OpenGL.


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 XSteem.


Q:
Is support for Falcon planned?
A:
No. To me those machines, like the TT, have no interest.
Steem SSE is strictly STF/STE (Steen not SSE is STE-only).
Atari supported Falcon only for a few months, and little software was
developed. Software was so specialised in audio it is very hard to emulate,
not to mention protections. Only some professionals in audio production
would be interested, and for this end Steem should be a paying tool anyway.
Now nothing keeps dedicated people from starting a Falcon branch of Steem.


Q:
What about Mega STE emulation?
A:
Maybe one day. First need to get one myself, or to have some really good tester
with one. 


Q:
What's the use of the STW disk image format?
A:
A STW disk image is the simplest possible MFM encoding format of
Atari ST floppy disks. 
It allows Steem to fully emulate WD1772 commands such as 'Format', 'Read 
Track', 'Read Address' and to support cases like Dragonflight, Realm of
the Trolls, Union Demo, and anything that relies on fancy WD1772 formats.
As of v3.7.2, Steem can do all this with HFE files as well, which has a
somewhat more complicated format. It makes STW already less useful, at
least to people who own the HxC floppy emulator, which isn't everybody.


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:
Doesn't the boiler icon look like a garbage bin?
A:
The icon's internal name is 'debug_trash.ico', so it seems to be on purpose!
Why exactly only Steem authors know. It may be a way to say that not all
programs on the platform were that good.


Q:
Why isn't the Boiler available for Linux?
A:
Steem authors developed it only for Windows. Efforts to port it to Linux would
require some dedicated Linux users. That's not me (SS).


Q:
I want to contribute some code!
A:
Please do. I like to brag about all I do myself but any help is appreciated.
Especially help with ports would be useful.
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
Or send me an e-mail.


Q:
I'd like to help but can't code.
A:
You can help by testing stuff and reporting bugs.


Q:
I can't code, I won't help, I use Linux (only recently switched from Amiga
OS), Hatari is better than Steem, fullscreen don't work, STW is useless, you
suck, in fact Steven Seagull's movies are notoriously bad.
A:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=299slo2tb0I
